By David Farmer,Staff Writer

AUGUSTA – Poverty’s stubborn grip on the children of Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties persists, according to a report released Tuesday.

The new data show that about half of the children in the three counties qualify for MaineCare, about one in four receives food stamps and one in six lives in poverty, which for a family of four means earnings less than $20,000 a year.

The data are part of the 2006 Maine Kids Count book, which is produced by the Maine Children’s Alliance with support from the Anne E. Casey Foundation, and is combined with data from other states for a comparative analysis released later in the year.

As a state, Maine consistently ranks high for children’s health and well-being, coming in seventh in 2005. But some parts of the state lag behind others. And while the state has made great strides in areas such as teen smoking and teen pregnancy rates, other numbers remain troubling.

“Big populations centers do tend to have poor kids,” said Elinor Goldberg, president of the Maine Children’s Alliance. “Androscoggin County, because of Lewiston and Auburn, has more poverty than other parts of the state. But it’s also a problem in some rural areas.”

Goldberg says the high number of children receiving MaineCare benefits is mixed news. “It’s good news that they can get health insurance … kids with insurance have a much better chance of getting health care. The bad news is there is so much need.”

Statewide, 40.8 percent of children receive MaineCare benefits. In Androscoggin, it’s 48.2 percent; Franklin, 47.5 percent; and Oxford, 51.6 percent. Washington County has the highest rate, at 63 percent; Cumberland has the lowest, 28.9 percent. Despite an increase in the number of children eligible for MaineCare, the percentage of children without coverage remained steady at 7 percent, but that’s about half the national average of 15 percent.

Across the state, 18.8 percent of children younger than five live in poverty, up 3 percent from the previous year.

An alarming trend identified by Kids Count last year has gotten worse. Hospitalizations for mental health disorders among children has increased 41 percent in the last four years. And, when teens end up in the hospital, seven of the 10 leading diagnoses for them are for mental illness.

Along with the bad news, the Kids Count data also shows where the state is improving. Students are reporting a significant reduction in the use of alcohol, marijuana and cigarettes. Teen suicide has declined for two years, and fewer high school students say they feel “sad” or “hopeless.” The number of overweight teens has declined, and more kids say they exercise regularly. Teen pregnancy and birth rates continue to decline.

“There’s a lot of really great news about teenagers,” Goldberg said. “It shows the importance of good data. When we began to understand that too many teens were smoking, we were able to (develop) policies. Now, we’ve reduced the number of teens who smoke by half. It’s a nice story when you see a problem and can do something about it.”

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