Kids Count Data Book is Out

   Voices for Alabama’s Children is out with its second report of the year on child well-being. Each year the organization publishes two Kids Count Data books. The first compares Alabama with other states, the second ranks how each individual county in the state is doing. Beginning with the good…the report finds that 96 percent of the state’s children are now covered by some form of health insurance. Voices Policy and Research Director Rhonda Mann says are also being made in education with the state’s Pre-K program. One major area of concern for the state : children living in poverty. 27 percent of children in Alabama are impoverished and about 31 percent of children under the age of five live in poverty. Looking at individual counties…Shelby leads the state for overall child well-being and Wilcox County ranks last.