By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

WOONSOCKET — While the child abuse and neglect rate in Woonsocket improved slightly between 2006 and 2007, the city continues to have the highest rate of child abuse and neglect in the state, according to Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, a statewide children’s policy organization.

For more than a decade, Woonsocket has consistently had one of the highest rates of indicated investigations of child abuse and neglect in the state. Last year, the city’s child abuse and neglect rate of 19.1 indicated child abuse and neglect investigations per every 1,000 children was still the highest in the state and more than double the state rate of 7.8 investigations per 1,000 children.
The rate for 2007, however, was a slight improvement from the 2006 rate of 21.4 cases, an indication local community efforts are being implemented in the city to improve parenting skills and provide support for families, Elaine Budish, Rhode Island KIDS COUNT research analyst, told a group of community and city policy leaders at the Chaplin-Perez Center Wednesday morning.
Rhode Island KIDS COUNT works to improve the economic wellbeing, health, safety, education and development of Rhode Island children.
As part its annual Data in Your Backyard Series, the organization visits communities throughout the state to present localized information about child wellbeing and encourage community discussion about the implications of the data.
Last year, Budish said, Woonsocket had 244 investigations of child abuse and neglect, a decrease from 274 cases the previous year.
“Whether this (slight improvement) ends up being a trend remains to be seen and we’re hopeful that is the case when we look at the data next year,” she said.
While the rate of indicated cases per 1,000 children for Woonsocket had declined from 21.0 in 1999 to 13.1 in 2004, the rate has increased in 2007 to 19.1 per 1,000 children and is the highest in the state.
“Research shows that high-quality, intensive family support programs during the first few years of life can improve child outcomes and reduce the risk of neglect and abuse,” says Elizabeth Burke Bryant, executive director of Rhode Island KIDS COUNT. “Local community efforts, combined with the reforms underway within the Department of Children, Youth and Families to provide families with the needed wrap-around supports to keep children safely in the home, will help to improve the safety and well-being of Woonsocket’s children.”
According to the data presented Wednesday, the infant mortality rate in Woonsocket between 2002 and 2006 was 8.4 infant deaths per every 1,000 live births, compared to the state rate of 6.2 per 1,000 live births. Woonsocket’s current rate is almost double the 1997-2001 Woonsocket infant mortality rate of 4.4 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.
Between 2002 and 2006, 9.5 percent of Woonsocket infants were born low birth weight. The overall Rhode Island low birth weight rate was 8.1 percent during that period.
According to Budish, the most recent data on child poverty in Woonsocket is from the 2000 census. At that time, there were 11,155 children under the age of 18 residing in Woonsocket, a 5 percent increase from the 1990 decennial census. The 2000 census data indicate that 31.8 percent, or 3,494, of all children in Woonsocket under the age of 18 live below the federal poverty threshold of $21,027 for a family of four in 2007. Woonsocket is one of six communities in Rhode Island – the core cities – in which more than 15 percent of all children under age 18 live in poverty.
It was a mixed bag with regard to the teen birth rate in Woonsocket. The bad news: The Woonsocket teen birth rate for older teens (18 and 19) was the second highest in the state at 108.5 births per 1,000 girls ages 18-19, more than double the state rate of 43.2 births per every 1,000 girls. The good news: Woonsocket’s teen birth rate for minor teens ages 15-17 has decreased from 45 per 1,000 teen girls in that age group to 39.9 births per 1,000.
However, Woonsocket has the third highest rate of teen births in the state for younger teens and the rate is almost double the state rate of 19.1 births per every 1,000 girls ages 15-17.
“While fewer young teens in Woonsocket are having babies, the high rates of teen pregnancy in the city are a cause for concern,” Bryant said. “Teen pregnancy and parenting threaten the development of teen parents as well as their children.”
The data shows that while Woonsocket has better rates of prenatal care access than in the past, several early health indicators continue to lag behind the rest of the state. While more women in Woonsocket are receiving timely prenatal care than a decade ago, the most recent data from 2002 and 2006 indicates that Woonsocket is tied with Providence for the second highest rate of delayed prenatal care in the state at a rate of 14.9 percent, compared to 10.7 percent for the state as a whole.
In the area of education, the KIDS COUNT data showed that Woonsocket continues to provide full-day kindergarten programs to all kindergarteners in the district. In 2007, 51 percent of eligible children in Woonsocket were enrolled in Head Start. However, due to recent cuts in state Head Start funding, 21 of the most vulnerable children in Woonsocket are no longer enrolled in Head Start, Budish noted.
In Woonsocket, the percentage of 4th grade students proficient in reading increased from 46 percent in October 2005 to 50 percent in October 2007. This compares to a statewide 4th grade reading proficiency level of 64 percent in 2007, up from 60 percent in October 2005.
The new graduation rates calculated by the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which use a unique student identifier, report that only 54 percent of Woonsocket students graduate from high school compared with 70 percent of Rhode Island students.
There was some positive news that came out of Wednesday’s presentation. According to Budish, improvements have been seen in the number of city children participating in the food stamp and school breakfast programs.
“When it comes to school breakfast program you guys are rock stars,” Budish told the gathering. “We are seeing improvements in the percentage of eligible children accessing programs such as the food stamp and the school breakfast programs. We know that these programs can help to mitigate some of the negative effects of poverty and help children go to school healthy and ready to learn.”
In Woonsocket in 2007, 81 percent of income-eligible children were receiving food stamp benefits, compared with 74 percent in the state as a whole, and 41 percent of eligible low-income children were participating in the school breakfast program, compared with 29 percent in the state as a whole.
“The 2008 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook shows both progress and areas that need improvement in the well-being of children and youth in Woonsocket,” Bryant said. “We must recognize that the current economic crisis will only place more and more children in Woonsocket at risk unless we strengthen the network of health services, family supports and early care and education that leads to strong families and healthy children,” stated Bryant.