County ranked eighth in child well-being report

BY TOM CAIAZZA Staff Writer

BY TOM CAIAZZA
Staff Writer

A new report released last week by the Association for Children of New Jersey puts Middlesex County slightly better than middle-of-the-road when it comes to child well-being.

The New Jersey Kids Count report says that Middlesex County is ranked eighth out of the state’s 21 counties in an aggregation of many different factors including family economics, health and safety, and early care and education.

“There were 15 indicators and Middlesex [County] ranked ninth, 10th or 11th on nine of them,” said Traini, coordinator of the Kids Count report. “So there are some bright spots … but for the most part, they are right smack in the middle.”

Those bright spots include areas where the county is better than the state average and performs higher than others when broken down by county.

The county ranks third best in terms of juvenile arrests, with a strong showing against the state average. The statistics of the report show that 15 out of every 1,000 minors in Middlesex County were arrested compared with the state’s average of 28 for each 1,000 minors. Similarly, the county ranks third best in reports of abuse and neglect to state agencies such as the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS), suggesting a level of child safety greater than 18 other counties.

The report also shows the county scoring well in households spending less then 30 percent of their income on housing or rent.

According to Traini, experts say that families should spend less than 30 percent of their income on housing or rent to remain financially stable. Middlesex County has an average of 45 percent spending more than 30 percent on housing, compared to the state average of 48 percent.

“Middlesex is doing better than the state, but that isn’t saying much,” Traini said.

The numbers correlate with the median family income of the county, which is roughly 5 percent higher than the state average.

For most of the report, however, the county ranks in the center of the 21 counties, garnering 10th or 11th place in most of the factors used to create the profile.

The county ranked 10th in child poverty as well as children passing standardized testing administered in the third and 11th grades. It ranked 11th in percentage of students enrolled in state-approved prekindergarten education as well as standardized testing in the fourth and eighth grades.

Traini said it was the bright spots that propelled Middlesex County to the eighth spot.

Traini said that the point of the report was not to find out reasons for the findings but to simply provide a “snap shot” of each county so that educated decisions could be made to improve children’s well-being.

“The purpose of the county profile is to provide a snapshot of where the county is and where the state is so we can start to look at policy and start making decisions based on actual numbers,” Traini said.

Traini said looking at the state by county, instead of as a whole unit, provides for better understanding of how children are being raised in an economically diverse state such as New Jersey. Often the state numbers do not offer the level of detail Traini believes is necessary to gather an accurate picture.

“When you look at different areas of the state, it is very obvious that there is a wide disparity in opportunities children have, based on where they are growing up,” Traini said. “In my mind, to really understand what children are facing and what families are facing in New Jersey, you can’t just look at the state averages because it flattens out all those peaks and valleys, and there really are a lot of them in New Jersey.”

County to the eighth spot.

Traini said that the point of the report was not to find out reasons for the findings but to simply provide a “snap shot” of each county so that educated decisions could be made to improve children’s well-being.

“The purpose of the county profile is to provide a snapshot of where the county is and where the state is so we can start to look at policy and start making decisions based on actual numbers,” Traini said.

Traini said looking at the state by county, instead of as a whole unit, provides for better understanding of how children are being raised in an economically diverse state such as New Jersey. Often the state numbers do not offer the level of detail Traini believes is necessary to gather an accurate picture.

“When you look at different areas of the state, it is very obvious that there is a wide disparity in opportunities children have, based on where they are growing up,” Traini said. “In my mind, to really understand what children are facing and what families are facing in New Jersey, you can’t just look at the state averages because it flattens out all those peaks and valleys, and there really are a lot of them in New Jersey.”