Advocacy organization Voices for Illinois Children has released a study called Illinois Kids Count 2017 that purports to examine the quality of life facing children and families throughout the state.
Illinois, according to the study, has wildly varying quality of life levels for children based on a county-by-county survey.
Vermilion County had study numbers equal to the state as a whole for the percentage of children under 185% of the poverty level receiving state child care assistance, and better numbers than the state for children actually having insurance at all.
However, they numbers show Vermilion County behind the norm in low-birth weight babies based on 2014 statistics at 10.9% to the state level of 8.2%.
Based on 2015 numbers, the county rated as 29% of children living in poverty rather than the statewide 19%; but the county rated ahead of the state in housing affordability.
The county was behind in preschool access for working families with low incomes 69% to 82%.
County school district numbers varied significantly in measuring of 3rd graders meeting language expectations and 6th graders meeting math expectations in either lower or other-incomed families.
The 2016 numbers for African-American high school students graduating from Danville District 188, 64%, was behind the state average of 75%; and nearly even with the state rate for Hispanic students around 80%.
Survey results for Vermilion County can be found at http://www.voices4kids.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/KC2017-Vermilion-County.pdf.
