Lowndes County’s is only slightly better than Dallas County in the Alabama Kids Count survey, with the county coming in 60th in the state.

Meanwhile, Wilcox County came in 65th and Perry County 63rd.

In Lowndes County, the number of children in the county decreased from 35 percent of the population in 1990 to 30.2 percent in 2000. However, the county ranks second in the state for the number of children reported to suffer from neglect or abuse. The county also ranked sixth in the state for the juvenile substance abuse rate.

On the flip side, the county ranks last in the state for their first grade retention rate. They also ranked 65th in the state for the number of births to unmarried teens and 65th in child death rate.

Perry County ranked first in the state for juvenile substance abuse court referral cases, reporting that there were no cases in the county for the past school year. They also reported no cases of juvenile violent crime arrests, which placed them 21st in the state.

However, Perry County ranks 66th in the state for the number of vulnerable families that live there. They rank last in the state for the number of children living in poverty – nearly 1,700.

In Wilcox County, the highest ranking received was 8th in the state for juvenile substance abuse court referral ratings. However, Wilcox ranks just above Perry County with the number of children living in poverty with nearly 2,000 below the poverty line. This is a decrease of 2,600 children living in poverty that was reported in 1990.