LOUISVILLE — Nearly 70,000 children in Kentucky — and 4 million children nationwide — are living in homes that do not have telephones.

        That's according to Disconnected Kids, a national report that ranks Kentucky 34th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the percentage of children with home phones.

        Seven percent of Kentucky children live in phoneless homes, according to the Kids Count Snapshot released this fall by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore.

        Kids Count program director William O'Hare says that “given the relatively high rate — higher than average — it's something that state legislators should pay attention to.”

        Not having a phone puts children at risk, said Queen White, family services manager at the Presbyterian Community Center in Louisville.

        “Children can have an emergency at any point,” Ms. White said. “If you can't dial 911 yourself, you have to go next door, go across the street, etc.”

        Her comments are echoed in the report, which says that living without a phone is a form of isolation that can affect a child in a number of ways.

        “If there is no phone at home, for example, a working parent is unable to make sure that her/his child arrived home safely from school,” the report states. “And a child at home alone is unable to contact his/her working parent should an emergency arise.”

        It also means that the child doesn't have home access to the Internet at a time when there is increasing discussion about being on the “information superhighway.”

        The situation is improving nationally, Mr. O'Hare said, with the number of children without a home phone declining from 9.2 percent in 1990 to 5.9 percent in 2000.

        But “the ones who don't (have a phone) are kind of getting a double whammy — they're not only poor, they're disconnected from this communication stream that so many people are connected with,” Mr. O'Hare said.

        The problem is most prevalent among minorities and low-income children, and those living in inner cities and rural areas are more likely to be affected than those in the suburbs, the report states.

        Two-thirds of all children without a phone live in families with annual incomes of less than $30,000, according to the foundation.

        Families who need help with phone service can take advantage of the Link-up program, which is federally funded and waives half of the telephone installation fee, shaving off up to $30, said Jim Stevens, public utility financial analyst for the Public Service Commission.

        Lifeline, a program that is federally and state funded, reduces a family's monthly telephone charge by $10.50 to $12. About 47,000 families are part of the program, Mr. Stevens said.

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