Montana KIDS COUNT 2003: Indian children struggle with health care, poverty, and death.

• Author: Seninger, Steve
• Position: Kids Count

Indian children in Montana face more health, education, and economic problems than do non-Indian children, newly published research shows. Their death rates are higher, not only as infants and children, but also as teenagers and young adults. A disproportionately high percentage of Indian teens neither go to school nor work. And the teenage birth rate is significantly higher among young Indian women than among non-Indian women.

The disadvantages in health care, safety, and economic opportunity for children who grow up in Montana's Indian communities are dramatic when compared to other Montana children, or to children nationwide, according to a 2002 study funded by Casey Family Programs and reported in the 2003 Montana KIDS COUNT Data Book.

Published by The University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) and funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Montana KIDS COUNT 2003 for the first time included data on American Indian children.

American Indians are the largest minority group in Montana, representing more than 6 percent of the Census 2000 population. Indian youth represent almost 10 percent of Montana's population under age 18, a demographic share that increases to 18 percent in rural areas.

Indian children and adolescents dominate population age profiles in tribal communities and reservations statewide, with children under age 20 accounting for 38 percent of the total population--the majority of them age 14 or younger. This youthful orientation of American Indian populations will continue over the next decade, particularly in reservation counties such as Glacier, Big Horn, and Roosevelt. There, the Indian population has seen high natural population growth, with the annual number of births exceeding the number of deaths--whereas white populations have seen negative natural growth and out-migration.

In the 2002 study by Charlotte Goodluck and Angela Willeto, Montana scored higher than the national average on six of eight indicators of child well-being (Tables 1 and 2). Teen birth rates of 52.2 percent placed Montana well above the national rate and fourth highest among 13 states in Indian Country.

Montana's poverty rate among American Indian kids was the third highest in the sample and significantly above the national rate of 32 percent. The state's unemployment and non-participation in labor force rate for female heads-of-household was also very high among Indians. There's no arguing that Montana needs to do more to improve child and adolescent health and increase family income and employment opportunities in Indian communities.

Indian children make up 10 percent of the infants and children in Montana, but almost 17 percent of the babies and children who died between 1997 and 2000. Differences in death rates for 1- to 14-year-olds and for teens in Montana are much greater than the national differences.

Health programs have tried to address the death rate for both American Indian and non-Indian children in Montana. Statewide programs to reduce sudden infant deaths and accidental deaths from drowning, firearms, and vehicle crashes are ongoing by the Montana Department of Health and Human Services. But the efforts continue to be undermined by state budget cutbacks. Suicides and violent deaths from homicides and auto crashes, especially among teenage males, is a serious problem among Montana's Indian population--but also among all youth. Our state rates are the highest in the country and pro-active programs and interventions to address this epidemic are lacking because of budget constraints.

Montana KIDS COUNT 2003

For the third year, the Bureau of Business and Economic Research produced the Montana KIDS COUNT Data Book. By compiling key data about children, Montana KIDS COUNT can provide a resource that helps guide decision-makers at the state and county level as they work to improve or stabilize the well-being of kids. Today, with so much data available from so many sources, there is a need for easily accessible and timely information, so the social and economic status of children can be systematically tracked at the state and local level.

Three additions to the 2003 Data Book provided even more depth to the report: a section on the well-being of American Indian children, information showing broad patterns in how kids spend their time when they are not in school, and an expanded section on Montana counties, including a new County Poverty Index that should help local governments understand how they are doing in relation to other communities.

KIDS COUNT, a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is a state-by-state effort to track the status of children throughout the United States. The purpose of Montana KIDS COUNT is to provide policymakers and citizens with benchmarks of child well-being for use in community, state, and national discussions of how best to guarantee a successful future for all children. The KIDS COUNT project is a statewide collaborative effort bringing together a wide range of organizations...