NJ Kids Count: Cape May Co. Ranked 8th For Health; Lowest in Safety, Well-being

Cape May County received its highest ranking – eighth – in child health, but placed last in the area of safety and well‐being among the state’s 21 counties, according to the annual New Jersey Kids Count county profiles and pocket guide released Aug. 21. 
The rankings, which compare counties on 12 measures of child well-being, and across four domains – economics, health, safety and well-being, and education – provide a closer look at how children fare in various parts of the state.
The pocket guide, New Jersey Kids Count County Pocket Guide, provides a five-year comparison of county-by-county child trend data across 42 measures of child well-being.
“Once again, the data shows different conditions for children living in each county. Cape May posted the lowest rate of babies born with low birthweights, pushing the county to rank within the top 10 in child health. However, the county ranked near the bottom for its low lead testing rate,” stated Cecilia Zalkind, president and CEO of Advocates for Children of New Jersey, which produced the Kids Count reports.
“We hope that these county profiles will encourage community leaders to see these data and implement changes that will target resources and help improve the lives of the children in Cape May County,” Zalkind added.
Cape May County ranks:
19th in Child and Family Economics: Despite a 36 percent drop in unemployment between 2013 and 2017, Cape May had the highest unemployment rate in the state at 9.1 percent, compared to New Jersey’s 4.6 percent.
Moreover, the percentage of households spending 30 percent or more of their income on rent rose from 52 percent in 2012 to 55 percent in 2016 – a 6 percent increase.
Eighth in Child Health: Cape May ranked first in the state for having the lowest percentage of babies born with low birthweights at 6 percent, compared with New Jersey’s 8.1 percent. In addition, the county’s child uninsured rate was just 2.9 percent.
But there is room for improvement in the number of children tested for lead. While overall more than a quarter of New Jersey children under age 6 received a blood lead test in 2016, Cape May’s testing rate was 11 percent.
21st in Safety and Well-Being: Cape May placed last in the state for having the highest percentage of children with substantiated or established cases of reported child abuse or neglect at 15.2 percent in 2016 compared to 12.1 in 2012; the 2016 state average was 9.3 percent. Nine percent of Cape May teens were not in school and not working, compared to the state average of 6 percent.
13th in Education: Cape May County was on par with New Jersey’s percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations on the third grade English Language Arts PARCC exams at 50 percent.
The county’s graduation rate of 88 percent was below the state average of 90 percent. And roughly 12 percent of students were chronically absent – missing 10 percent or more school days.
Note, ACNJ omitted school breakfast participation from the education domain this year, replacing it with third grade English Language Arts PARCC results. Due to this change, comparisons should not be made to the 2017 education domain rank.
In addition to the county rankings, Advocates for Children of New Jersey also released its first-ever Babies Count: A Statewide Profile of Infants and Toddlers. This report offers a statewide profile of the Garden State’s youngest children and identifies areas for improvement in child well-being.
To read the reports, visit www.acnj.org
Kids Count is a national and state-by-state statistical effort to track the state of children in the United States, sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Advocates for Children of New Jersey is a statewide child research and action organization and the New Jersey Kid Count grantee.