Tagged: Kids Count

Child abuse and neglect appear to be increasing in Michigan. A new report from the Michigan League for Public Policy says more than 33,000 children in Michigan were victims of abuse or neglect in 2011. That’s an 18 percent increase compared to 2005.

There is a dispute over the exact size of the increase. 

"We’re not saying that there isn’t an uptick," says Dave Akerly, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Human Services. "We’re saying that from our standpoint, we believe that the uptick isn’t as dramatic as it would appear to be."

He says the numbers in the Michigan League report are a little misleading because a lot changed at DHS between 2005 and 2011. One of the things that changed is how cases get reported.

So, Akerly says instead of there being a huge increase in abuse and neglect, we may just be seeing a more accurate picture of abuse and neglect.

And no matter how you look at that, it’s an ugly picture.

We post about a lot of reports on this site. We use a lot of statistics. Not sure if you noticed. 

The point is that these statistics all tell a story, and the story for kids in poverty is almost always bad. The latest report to confirm it is from the Michigan League for Public Policy (formerly known as the Michigan League for Human Services).

The League is the agency responsible for compiling Michigan's statistics for the annual Annie E. Casey Kids Count report. Kids Count offers one of the most comprehensive set of statistics on child well being.  If you want to know how children are doing, particularly children in poverty, Kids Count will give you the answer.

And the answer in the latest Michigan Kids Count report is that children are not doing great. 

The Annie E. Casey Foundation's annual Kids Count Data Book is one of the best resources for tracking how our kids are doing in the U.S., and for tracking how different states stack up. 

The latest Data Book was released yesterday, and Michigan Radio's Kate Wells reports the numbers were pretty bad for Michigan. Jane Zehnder-Merrell, of the Michigan League for Human Services told Wells: