Report: Colorado kids doing better in many areas, but face problems with suicide, school funding

Colorado kids are doing better on several fronts than they were 25 years ago, including in areas of public health, early development and education, according to a report released Thursday.

Colorado’s infant mortality rate in 2016 was nearly half of what it was 25 years ago, the teen birth rate plummeted by nearly 70 percent and the uninsured rate for kids reached a record low in 2016.

The number of spaces in early learning programs like the Colorado Preschool Program climbed steadily, and the share of Colorado kindergarteners enrolled in a full-day program increased five-fold, according to a new, 25th edition KIDS COUNT report from the Colorado Children’s Campaign.

But in some ways the fortunes of kids have declined since the first KIDS COUNT report was produced in 1993.

In 2015, the teen suicide rate in Colorado — consistently one of the highest in the nation — reached a rate not seen in the previous 25 years.

Click here to read the full story from The Denver Post.