NWI Statistics

Northwest Indiana is geographically large, covering 1,761 square miles. The region is socioeconomically and culturally diverse. In some communities, particularly the more suburban areas, it appears that most children are physically healthy, accessing necessary services and succeeding in the first few years of elementary school. Data from several of the urban centers and some rural areas suggest that conditions are not sufficiently preparing children to be successful learners and citizens (KIDSCOUNT 2008).

Northwest Indiana Statistics

Health & Safety

• In NWI, approximately 19.5% of mothers received late or no prenatal care.
• The number of fetal deaths in NWI in 2006 was 70.
• The number of infants born of Low Birth Weight (<2500 gm) putting a child at very high risk for complications was 937, or 9% of all NWI births in 2006.
• The number of deaths of infants under one year of age was 92 (2006).
• In Northwest Indiana, in 2007, 71 children were identified as having toxic levels of lead in their system. Lake County is among the four Indiana counties with the highest incidence of lead poisoning (ISDH, 2007).  These are devastating statistics for something completely preventable.  Pediatric and health department offices offer lead screens for children.

Socially and Emotionally Competent Children

Research shows that a child who cannot pay attention, follow instructions, regulate emotions and keep his hands to himself will not succeed in school or life, no matter how well he can decode the written word.

• In 2007, there were 33,649 “out of school” suspensions and expulsions from Northwest Indiana elementary and secondary schools. That means that 33,649 conduct episodes were of sufficient severity to warrant removal from school grounds. Nine hundred seventy-five (975) of those students were expelled and 851 additional NWI students dropped out of school before high school graduation.
• In 2008, 117 NWI juveniles were committed to the Department of Corrections (Indiana KIDS COUNT (2008).
• Also that year, the Division of Mental Health classified 10,468 Northwest Indiana children (ages 0-17) as Seriously Emotionally Disturbed (Indiana FSSA, 2008).
• In Northwest Indiana, only the Head Start programs have mental health or behavior consultation.

Cognitively and Intellectually Achieving Children

• An estimated average of third graders who passed the ISTEP in the region is 64.4%. That finding suggests that over a third of our region’s children have begun their education with inadequate preparation for success.
• High School graduation rates across the region range from 45.6% in one urban community to 95.7% in a suburban community
• Indiana is one of only twelve states that does not have a state-sponsored preschool system (NIEER, 2008)( many public school districts in NWI use Title I and other funds to provide some degree of preschool)In Northwest Indiana, approximately 40% of three and four year-olds are enrolled in public or private preschool
• Approximately one third of our region’s children under age six stay home with a parent or guardian during the day, while 65.8% spend their days in some form of regular child care (IAEYC, 2007).
• There are 486 registered or licensed early care and education providers in Northwest Indiana, including child care centers, homes, ministries and Head Start programs.
• In a 2006 study conducted by the LaPorte County Early Childhood Initiative (Davis and Cook, 2006), 46% of LaPorte county families surveyed were unable to find needed services or had to be referred out of Northwest Indiana because services were not available locally.

• In the Northwest Indiana region in 2007, there were 550 substantiated reports of child abuse and neglect (KIDS COUNT, 2008).

• Sixteen thousand (16,303) or 21.3% of Northwest Indiana children under age five live in poverty.
• In families with female householder with children under age 5, the poverty rate approaches 50% (US Census Fact Finder, 2008).