MichiganRadio

Poverty, Child Abuse on the Rise in Michigan ANN ARBOR, MI (Michigan Radio) - A new report says more than 30,000 Michigan children were confirmed victims of abuse or neglect, and 1 in 5 Michigan children live in poverty.

The latest Kids Count report shows that Michigan's northern rural counties had the highest poverty rates in the state. Roughly 1 out of every 3 kids in Clare, Lake and Roscommon counties lives in poverty.

But Jane Zehnder-Merrill says that doesn't mean some of Michigan's urban cities necessarily fare any better. Zehnder-Merrill is study director and researcher at the Michigan League for Human Services:

"You have pockets of Wayne County, within Oakland County, and within Ingham County that are much worse off them some of these rural counties."

The report also tracked what was happening in terms of the number of students who are eligible for receiving free and reduced price lunch. 41% receive reduced or free lunch, roughly 2 of every 5 children in the state.

The report does have some good news. Teen birth rates, death rates and high school dropout rates are all lower. And proficiency test scores improved for 4th and 8th graders.

More information on the Kids Count report is here: http://www.milhs.org/

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