FRANKFORT — Boone County is just about the healthiest place in Kentucky to raise a child, according to a study released today analyzing 20 indicators of “child well-being.”

        The Northern Kentucky county ranks second of the state's 120 counties on factors such as early prenatal care, student achievement, poverty rates, teen births and percentage of child support collected, according to study released today by the Kentucky Youth Advocates and the University of Louisville.

INDICATORS

County Rank (of 120) on 20 indicators of child well-being:    Oldham: 1    Boone: 2    Campbell: 14    Kenton: 20    Grant: 62    Pendleton: 67    Gallatin: 109

        Oldham County — near Louisville — is the healthiest place in the state for children. And Owsley County — an impoverished pocket of eastern Kentucky — was at the other end of the annual rankings.

        The information was compiled by the research and advocacy group Kentucky Youth Advocates. Its Kentucky KIDS COUNT County Data Book ranks the 120 counties in 20 categories.

        Campbell County ranked No. 1 in one indicator, posting the lowest rate statewide of child deaths — with only 12-14 per 100,000 children ages 1-14 dying from 1995-1999.

        Boone County led the state in employment, with only 1 percent of high school graduates not in school or working.

        Kenton's highest rankings came in a low rate of child death, where it ranked No. 2, and in employment, where it ranked fourth.

        Grant County's highest ranking came in the percent of child support payments collected, where it ranked 10th in the state with 64 percent collected in 2000. Gallatin County also did well in this category, ranking 12th in the state with 63 percent collected in 2000.

        However, Gallatin ranked near the bottom of the state's 120 counties, coming in at 117, with a high percentage of dropouts in grades seven through 12.

        Grant County ranked 120th of 120 counties in students retained as a percent of students enrolled in school.

        Pendleton County ranked No. 1 in the state on student retention and 12th in the state for student attendance rates.

        Oldham County had the lowest rates of children in poverty (7 percent), births to teens (12 births per 1,000 girls) and mothers with less than a high school education (10 percent).

        Oldham had the highest rate of women receiving prenatal care in the first trimester (94 percent). Sixth-graders ranked highest in reading and math skills measured by a version of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, the report said.

        Oldham County and other affluent areas of Kentucky have low poverty rates, food stamp usage and schoolchildren on free or reduced-price lunch.

        Most of the counties with low rankings are in eastern Kentucky.

        “While no predictions can be made about any one child growing up in dire conditions, from looking at these statistics, we can make predictions about groups of children who live in poor places,” said Debra Miller, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates.

        Statistics in the data book were compiled by Kentucky Youth Advocates and the University of Louisville Population Research Center. They used census figures and information from state and federal agencies.

Hinton, Keating accorded honor
Weather could slow air travel
Tenants agree to yield spot for CAC
Victim's daughter, 7, could be key to slaying
GE-Aiken program on the grow
Apartment residents file suit over lack of landlord
Judge upholds abortion measure
Paper accused of revealing source
W. Chester lures medical campus
Agency opens up grievance process
School honors couple
Accused Hispanics notified of rights
Biological parents appeal to Ky. Supreme Court
Butler airport contracts awarded
Cathedral renovation plans proceed
Decision delayed on condemned house
Doctor's helicopter crash probed
Entire street glows in Edgewood
McConnell warms up for election
More charges heard vs. Dayton mayor
N.Ky. counties take good care of kids
Old friends from Cincinnati to help with inauguration
Panel finds aging schools 'appalling'
Promoters sue NCAA over basketball games
School board OKs teacher contract
Schools target ballot in Nov.
Schools' tax plan likely on fall ballot
State to warn of houseboat exhaust danger
Kentucky News Briefs
Tristate A.M. Report