Reports provide insights into ‘at risk youth’ in Frontenac County

Jeff Green | Sep 01, 2011

Megan Hughes toils quietly most of the time in her office at the Child Centre in Sharbot Lake.

She spends her working days digging into statistical information, and produces reports on the social well-being of children and families in Frontenac, Lennox and Addington and Hastings Counties. The reports are used by community planners, social service agencies and government officials.

Hughes’ job title is Data Analysis Co-ordinator (DAC) for the Ontario Early Years Centre for the former provincial riding of Hastings Frontenac Lennox and Addington. Earlier this year, along with fellow DACs from Kingston and other Eastern Ontario regions, she produced a pair of reports. One is about the social risks faced by youth in Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Counties. It provides information about specific regions, such as Portland and Bedford Districts, and Central and North Frontenac.

The other report is a more general report about health indicators, ranging from birth weight, body mass index, diet, etc. in South eastern Ontario as compared to the province as a whole.

In mid-August Hughes presented her reports to Frontenac County, partly so they know how their communities are doing, and partly to let county council members know that she is a resource that is available to them.

The community profiles made use of 2006 census data, and they present some interesting information about the number of children who, based on socio-economic indicators, face a higher than average risk of running into difficulties in school or in the community. It also looks at the number of children in each community who had a high score on a scale called a multiple challenges index. The index looks at 16 different indicators in categories such as physical health and well-being, social knowledge and competence, emotional health, language and cognitive development, and communications skills. Any child who scores poorly in 9 of the 16 categories is deemed to be facing multiple challenges.

To take one community as an example, Portland and Bedford Districts of South Frontenac, the social risk indicator defines the community as facing a “somewhat low risk” based on the fact that the unemployment rate is lower than the regional and provincial average (3.3% as compared to 4.2% in the southeast region and 4.9% in the province) the incidence of low income is well below the provincial average and the number of tenant households spending more than 30% of their income on housing is lower than the regional and provincial average.

However, when looking at children facing multiple challenges, Portland and Bedford have the highest percentage of vulnerable children in the Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington region. Not surprisingly then, the standardised testing results for grade 3 and 6 students from Portland and Bedford are well below the provincial average.

A look at Central Frontenac reveals a moderate risk on the social risk index, and again a high number of children facing multiple risks.

The picture in North Frontenac is similar to Central, but North Frontenac does face a higher unemployment rate (6.3%) than the provincial average (4.9%) and a very high percentage of renters who pay over 30% of their income for rent, 55% as compared to the provincial average of 44.3%.

“It is important to look at both sides of the data, the positive and the negative. Good planning requires evidence,” said Megan Hughes.

County Councilor John McDougall (from South Frontenac) said, “We see this information, but what about the response?”

“There are a number of planning tables, including the Early Years Advisory Committee, Success by Six and others, and the County Deputy Clerk Susan Beckel sits on all of them. They devise programs to help children in all these regions. Northern Frontenac Community Services, as the Early Years Centre, provides programs for children and families throughout the region,” said Hughes.

“One of the challenges we face as a county in dealing with this kind of information relates to the political structure. Children and youth services are the purview of the City of Kingston. There are communications challenges which make some of us at the county feel disconnected from what is going on in these areas,” said Central Frontenac Mayor Janet Gutowski. “We should do something about that.”

“As I said before, I am available to members of county council who are looking for information about the health and well being of children and youth in Frontenac County,” said Megan Hughes.