Kids Count Data: County Ranks Last In Children’s Safety, Wellbeing

COURT HOUSE – Cape May County ranked last place in child safety and wellbeing out of all 21 counties, according to an annual report released July 10 by Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ). 
The report, compiled by ACNJ, measures counties in all states across economics, health, education, and safety and wellbeing, instead of the overall rank it used to give each county. Cape May County also ranked 17th in child and family economics, 15th in child health and 12th in education.
Last year, Cape May County ranked 19 overall, a drop from 14 the year prior.
Safety and Wellbeing
The latest safety and wellbeing rankings were determined by 2015 data from the state Department of Children and Families on juvenile arrest rates, rates of unemployed teens not in school, and percentage of reported children with substantiated or established findings of abuse and neglect. 
Out of the entire state, Cape May County had the highest juvenile arrest rate at 30.3 per 1,000 children, three times higher than the state average.
The county’s rate dropped from 40.1 in 2011, but all counties experienced drops in juvenile arrests during those years.
At 11 percent, Cape May County had the largest percentage of teens aged 16-19 not working nor in school, compared to the state average of 6 percent.
The county also had the largest percentage of children with substantiated or established cases of abuse or neglect at 16.3 percent, an increase from 12.8 in 2011. The 2015 state average was 10.5 percent.
17th in Economics
The percentage of children living below the poverty threshold dropped from 20 in 2011 to 14 in 2015, below the state average of 16 percent.
Although unemployment in the county dropped from 15.5 percent in 2011 to 9.8 percent in 2016, that rate is still nearly double the state average and remains the highest unemployment rate in the state.
Cape May County is also above the state average in its number of households paying more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs, at 55 percent.
15th in Child Health
Child health was determined by the amount of babies born with low birth weights, the number of children under age 6 tested for lead, and the amount of children without health insurance.
Cape May County’s highest mark was fourth place in the state for the number of babies born with low birth weight. At 6.5 percent, it was lower than the state average of 8.1 percent.
However, the county ranked 16 in the number of children under 6 who received blood lead tests. At 12.8 percent of children tested, it was about half the state average.
The amount of children without health insurance in the county was 4.1 percent compared to the state average of 3.7 percent.
12th in Education
Cape May County’s graduation rate, at 88 percent, was close to the state average of 90 percent.
About 12 percent of students were chronically absent, meaning they missed more than one out of every 10 school days, ranking the county 14 in the state for least chronic absences.
Fifty-two percent of eligible Cape May County students ate a school breakfast, above the state average of 47 percent.
“The good news is that fewer children in Cape May are born with low birth weights and more than half of low-income students start the day with school breakfast,” stated Cecilia Zalkind, president of Advocates for Children New Jersey.
“From curbing chronic absenteeism to increasing lead testing for young children, community leaders can use the data to recognize areas of concern and target resources to improve the lives of children in their county,” Zalkind stated.
To contact Taylor Henry, email thenry@cmcherald.com.