A report released today by children's advocacy group Voices for Children says some 2007 statistics spelled harder times for Nebraska's children.

Voices for Children Executive Director Kathy Bigsby Moore said the report serves an important function.

"If it were not for the Kids Count report, Nebraska policymakers and agency heads would not be able to find many of these data and they certainly would not be able to find them in the compiled, easy to read form that they are here," Moore said. "They would have to go into each database in each of the health and human services and education and every agency and really try to delve and dig for this information."

The Kids Count report says enrollment in the public assistance program Aid to Dependent Children decreased, while unemployment increased in 2007. The average number of families receiving monthly ADC payments dropped from 11,625 in 2006 to 10,313 in 2007.

Report co-author Tiffany Seibert said state officials are being more stringent in monitoring recipients, making sure they truly qualify for the benefit.

She says officials would hope to see an increase in employment with any decrease in ADC enrollment. She says it's important to make sure parents are given meaningful employment that will keep them self-sufficient over time.

The report also says the overall high school graduation rate in Nebraska was 89.3 percent in 2006-07, compared with 88.8 percent in 2005-06.

The figure was 92.8 percent for white children, 72.8 percent for blacks, 70.7 percent for Hispanics and 61.7 percent for American Indians.

Among Nebraska 2-year-olds, 82.9 percent have been immunized. That's higher than the national average of 77.4 percent and was fifth nationally for high immunization rates.

The Kids Count report also shows that in 2007, 95 percent of Nebraska children younger than 6 had at least one working parent and 74 percent had two working parents. Nebraska ranked third nationally for number of children younger than 6 with two working parents.

The Kids Count report also shows there were 45,000 uninsured children in Nebraska in 2007. That included 27,000 who were considered low income.

It says some 36 percent of Nebraska schoolchildren were eligible for free and reduced meals in 2006-07. A total of 46 school districts and 17 counties had free and reduced-cost meal eligibility at or above 50 percent.

Infant mortality in 2006 was 5.54 infant deaths per 1,000 births, according to the report. Black infant mortality was 11.42, compared with 5.63 for whites, 6.0 for Hispanics and 6.24 for American Indians.

Also, there were 2,338 licensed foster homes in December 2007, down 258 from December 2006.