Community Corner

MontCo Named Among 50 Healthiest Counties for Kids in U.S.

The U.S. News and World Report listed the county as the 35th healthiest for children, based on statistics such as low birth weight babies, death from injuries, teen births and children in poverty.

By Brittany Tressler

Montgomery County has been named one of the U.S. News and World Report's 50 Healthiest Counties for Kids in the United States, marking the county as the 35th most  “safe and child-friendly” in the country.
Montgomery County is the only Pennsylvania county to make the list, which was released for the first time this year as part of the U.S. News Best Children’s Hospital, marking the first national, county-level assessment of healthy children.

The ranking was decided based on a number of statistics, including low birth weight babies, deaths from injuries, teen births and children in poverty.

“This study concerns what I’ve always known — that Montgomery County is a safe and child-friendly place, a great place to live, a great place to raise our children,” said Commissioner Leslie Richards at a press conference on Tuesday.

Montgomery County, which earned an overall score of 84.3 out of 100, was well below the national median in all of the criteria.

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The percentage of children in poverty is 7.2 percent in the county, as opposed to a median of 24 percent nationwide.

The infant death rate in Montgomery County is 526.8 per 100,000, and the median is 679.2. The injury death rate per 100,000 kids age 1 through 19 is 9.6 in Montgomery County; the national median is 21.7.

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The teen birth rate in Montgomery County is 14.8 per 1,000, compared with the U.S. Median of 44.

The rankings were developed with the help of the University of Wisconisin Population Health Institute, in conjunction with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The commissioners credited “the two c’s” with this distinction — collaboration and communication. 

“It takes everyone – the government, our schools, law enforcement, our nonprofit community and many others, to bring everyone together to create a safe and healthy environment for our kids,” said Montgomery County Board of Commissioners Chairman Josh Shapiro, adding that it is necessary to “communicate with our constituents; communicate with the parents, guardians and caretakers for these children to ensure their safety and well-being.”

According to Shapiro, much of the credit of this success goes to the county departments, an “extraordinary group of individuals who look out for these children each and every day.”

Attendees at the press conference included Dr. Joseph DiMino and members of the Montgomery County Health Department, Laurie O’Connor and her staff at the Office of Children and Youth and several members of the nonprofit community in Montgomery County.

While Shapiro recognized that Montgomery County’s presence on this list is a testament to the county's hard work, there is still work to be done.

“There are parts of Montgomery County that still need help, still need service,” Shapiro said.

According to Shapiro, the unveiling of a Community Connection program later this week will help to put the county in “an even better position to deliver services to children and families.” 


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