Last week Chrissy Tonkinson from Voices for Children came to speak to us about the state of children's over-all well-being in the State and where Saline county ranks in there.  She shared many statistics from the State and Saline county.  Overall, Saline county is ranked 77 of the 93 counties in Nebraska.  And in Saline county, there are 4,243 children.  The areas they look at are:

Health: we are 72 of 93 counties, and factored into that are uninsured children, inadequate prenatal care.

Economic Well-Being: 54 of 93, and factored in are children in poverty, families with children who do not own their own home, children who are food insecure, and children from low-income families.

Education: we are 66 of 93, and factored in are 3-4 years olds not in preschool, 3rd graders not reading proficiently, and the high school graduation rate.

Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice: we are 77 of 93, and factored in there are the rate of child welfare system involvement, rate of child welfare involved in out-of-home care, youth referred to diversion, juvenile court filings, and youth in juvenile court without an attorney. 

 

Pictured: Chrissy Tonkinson, Voices for Children

 

The information she shared was very interesting and it was nice to see where Saline county stacked up to the rest of the state.  If you'd like more information, email her at: ctonkinson@voicesforchildren.com.

 

Next week, we will have the RYLA participant and the scholarship winners so share their next steps, and the experience for the RYLA participant.  We will be meeting at the Brew House at 5:30 to hear from them!