More children are poor. More children are being hurt or seeing loved ones hurt at home. More children are getting arrested.

The annual “Kids Count Data Book” report doesn’t have a lot of good news for kids in Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin counties.

“I look at the numbers and I see problems really across the board,” said Elinor Goldberg, head of the Maine Children’s Alliance, which puts out the annual report with help from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. “What it comes down to is what can we do to help these kids and these communities to do a better job?”

Released today, the 52-page report details county-by-county statistics and trends in children’s well-being, including infant mortality rates, household income figures and graduation rates. Among the most startling numbers for the tri-county area: poverty rates.

To be considered “living in poverty” in 2005, a family of three had to earn $15,577 or less. Just over 18 percent of Androscoggin County children were living in poverty in 2005, the most recent figure available. That jumped from 15.4 percent the year before, and it’s the highest percentage of Androscoggin kids in poverty since 1993.

In Oxford County, 21.5 percent of children lived in poverty in 2005, up from just over 17 percent the year before. In Franklin County, 22.3 percent of children lived in poverty in 2005, up from just over 16 percent the year before.

The 2005 state average was 16.7 percent.

Tri-county children remained poor in 2007, when a higher-than-average percentage of them received subsidized school lunch – nearly 44 percent in Androscoggin, just over 46 percent in Franklin and over 50 percent in Oxford counties compared to 37.5 percent statewide. A higher-than-average percentage of local children also received food stamps last December – over 32 percent in Androscoggin, over 28 percent in Franklin and over 33 percent in Oxford counties compared to 23.7 percent statewide.

Local social service agencies say the numbers back up what they’re seeing: more people in need.

“It’s a really hard time for families right now,” said Joan Churchill, family services director for Community Concepts, which runs social service programs in the three counties. It has seen a 30 percent increase in the number of Androscoggin and Oxford county people who needed emergency heating assistance.

The Kids Count report also shows more area children are being hurt or seeing loved ones hurt at home. The 2006 state average was just over 420 domestic assaults reported to police per 100,000 people. Androscoggin County had just over 633 per 100,000, up from 517.7 in 2005 and the highest number in the state.

It was better news for Franklin and Oxford counties. Although they remained above state average, both rates fell between 2005 and 2006, from 598.6 to 468 per 100,000 in Franklin County and from 448.7 to 439.7 per 100,000 in Oxford County.

Arrest rates for children (10 to 17 years old) were also good for Oxford County, where just over 41 kids out of 1,000 were arrested in 2006. That’s much lower than the state average of nearly 56 kids per 1,000.

Arrests were much higher in the other two counties, however. In Androscoggin, nearly 79 out of every 1,000 kids were arrested in 2006, the second highest juvenile arrest rate in the state. Franklin County had the highest – over 84 kids per 1,000.

Androscoggin and Franklin county authorities aren’t sure why their arrest rates are so high for children.

Some say drug and alcohol use leads kids to steal and commit other crimes.

Some say children don’t have enough to do after school and don’t have enough family supervision, so they get into trouble. Some say more kids aren’t committing more crimes, they’re just getting caught more often.

The entire Kids Count report can be seen at www.mekids.org.