Report: Michigan kids face increased poverty, abuse

The 2010 Kids Count survey shows that the well-being of children is slipping as the state cuts social programs designed to support poor families.

According to the Michigan League for Human Services survey released today, the child poverty rate climbed from 14 percent in 2000 to 23 percent in 2009.

Poverty is associated with problems in school, the survey found.

Michigan children who live in families with income below double the poverty level ($43,500 for a family of four) are more than twice as likely as their higher-income counterparts to repeat a grade (13% vs. 5%), and are substantially more likely to be disengaged from school (18% vs. 11%). … Almost one of every five school-aged children in families with income below 200 percent of poverty in Michigan was perceived by their parent as not being engaged in school.

Child safety has also suffered, according to the report:

In 2009, roughly 176,000 children in Michigan lived in a family where an investigation was conducted to determine if child abuse or neglect had occurred.

The rate of children in investigated families was 12 percent higher in Fiscal Year 2009 than in FY 2000. The rates of children in investigated families worsened in most (66) Michigan counties.

The rate of confirmed victims rose 25 percent between FY 2000 and FY 2009—from 10 children per 1,000 children to 13 per 1,000.

It is also becoming more difficult to access medical care:

With the increase in child poverty and parental unemployment in Michigan many more children participate in the Medicaid program: Almost 1 million children in the state now depend on Medicaid (37% of all children). Complicating their access to necessary services, however, is the erosion in provider rates paid by the state for Medicaid services. Since 2009, provider rates, which were already significantly below reimbursement rates from employer plans, were reduced by 8 percent.