This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Dec. 10, 2009 - Supportive families, quality education and good health care continue to elude a growing number of children in the metropolitan area, according to a new study released Wednesday by Vision for Children at Risk.
More than one in five children in the metro area -- 22 percent -- live in zip-code areas where the threats to their well-being are severe. Most of these youngsters are concentrated in the urban core in St. Louis and East St. Louis, the study said. Two big concerns, the study said, were that:
- The percentage of births to mothers receiving late or no prenatal care was more than four times the national average in more than a fifth of the region's zip codes.
- The percentage of children placed in out-of-home care is more than double the national average in six of the region's 138 zip codes.
Missouri has failed to invest adequately in early childhood programs as demonstrated by the state's low child-care assistance payments, low provider reimbursement rates, and limited support for early childhood programs, said the report.
"By almost any standard, Missouri has not joined much of the rest of the nation in focused efforts to make adequate provision for early childhood development," the authors of the report stated.
At the same time, Vision for Children at Risk praised Mayor Francis Slay and retiring Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., for their support of children's programs. Bond was honored Wednesday with the organization's Investing in Children Award. He has been a champion of Parents as Teachers and has worked consistently to help St. Louis get funds to fight lead poisoning.
In fact, the only good news in an otherwise dismal report was the finding that lead poisoning was dropping in older neighborhoods. The study pointed to zip codes where between 20-45 percent of children tested in 1997 were found to have lead poisoning. It said the rate had dropped to 7 percent by this year. It attributed the sharp drop to efforts by the St. Louis Lead Prevention Coalition and Lead Safe St Louis.
The study covered children in St. Louis, St. Louis County, St. Charles County and in the Illinois counties of Madison and St. Clair. More than 535,000 young people under age 18 live in the region. It found that 72 percent of zip codes in St. Louis had "severe risk ratings" for children, compared to about 18 percent of the zip codes in St. Louis County; 20 percent of the zip codes in St. Clair County, which includes East St. Louis; and about 3 percent of the zip codes in Madison County. No St. Charles County zip codes were listed as high risk for children.
"These wide gaps in child well-being are a major concern for our region," Richard Patton, executive direction of Vision for Children at Risk, said in a statement. "When children are left behind because we don't meet their basic needs for a healthy upbringing, it costs our region in the long term. The results are a less educated workforce as well as remedial costs for criminal justice, chronic health conditions and other problems."
The study recommended:
- Setting support payments for foster and adoptive parents at levels that provide adequate assistance and address the needs of children whose parents are in prison.
- Increasing access to quality early child care. While the state has marginally increased financial assistance for child care, the increase is jeopardized by the state's dire budget picture.
- Paying more attention to maternal and child health issues, such as asthma, nutrition, weight and prenatal care.
- Addressing educational inequities and disparities "that often have racial impact." On this and other issues, the study called for "all segments of the community and all civic stakeholders to work to promote quality public education."
- Providing more access to out of school programs, particularly for youngsters in poor neighborhoods.