Of all the data about Warwick children, city officials who attended Tuesday morning’s KIDS COUNT presentation were most concerned with the rates of high school dropouts, those using alcohol, drugs and cigarettes, and those that have been present to domestic violence incidents.

“I’m shocked,” said Patty St.Amant, director of Warwick’s Youth Services Substance Task Force, “today is enlightening but so sad.” St.Amant does not see additional city and state funds as being available to help and said the only way to reverse trends is to “empower parents to work with us.”

The report tailored to look at Warwick children and presented by Stephanie Geller of KIDS COUNT, reported a Warwick graduation rate of 72 percent as compared to a state average of 74 percent and rates of 83 percent in Coventry and 82 percent in Cranston.

“This is larger than in most other communities and an area that needs particular attention in Warwick,” Geller said.

Even considering students might faultily answer questionnaires as a gag, Geller also found the rate of high school students saying they had used alcohol in the previous 30 days as “something to pay attention to.” That rate was 45 percent with 33 percent saying they had used drugs and 31 percent saying they had smoked. The state percentages are 38, 27 and 23 respectively.

Also of alarm to the school and youth agency representatives gathered at the Warwick Public Library was that 32 percent of Warwick children were witness to a domestic violence incident. The state average is 29 percent.

“What is it that we’re not doing right?” questioned Karen Ostrowsky of the early intervention program at the Trudeau Memorial Center. No one offered an answer, but suggestions that those incidents are being identified where previously they had gone unreported and that economic pressures have put increasing stress on families.

But for the negatives of the presentation hosted by the Warwick Coalition to Prevent Child Abuse, there was also lots of positive news.

Mayor Scott Avedisian pointed to the 87 percent participation in Head Start that compares to the state average of 40 percent. There was also good news in education with gains in the proficiency in reading and math in fourth and eighth graders and in health with the dramatic reduction in children entering kindergarten with elevated blood lead levels from 3.8 percent in 2004 to 1.6 percent now.

“There’s still a lot to be done,” the mayor said, “we need to redouble our efforts so we’re even better next time.”

The in-depth analysis using data from schools, Department of Education, the 2000 Census, Department of Human Services, the American Community Survey, Department of Health and other sources painted a picture of child vulnerability in single-parent families and families living in poverty. It also showed how Warwick has fared in offering assistance to those at risk. The report found that last October 95 percent of income-eligible children in the city participated in the Food Stamp/SNAP Program as compared to 77 percent statewide. On the other hand, only 15 percent of Warwick students participate in school breakfast programs.

Lela Coons of the Warwick Coalition to Prevent Child Abuse and a longtime advocate of a universal breakfast program cited the importance of ensuring that children start the school day having had breakfast. In response to issues over scheduling she suggested students could be given brown bag breakfasts to eat in class.

Toll Gate Principal Stephen Chrabaszcz agreed that a breakfast program would need to be universal, meaning all students would get a free breakfast.

“Young people are not going to walk in there,” he said alluding to the stigma of those students eligible to receive free or a reduced cost breakfast if available.

Saying it was her first opportunity to attend a KIDS COUNT briefing, Eileen Barker, executive director of the Kent County YMCA remarked on the cross section of agency and government officials in the room and how they represented “an untapped potential to collaborate.”

That was fine for St.Amant.

“I’m happy that we’re all together,” she said, moving on to what she sees as the greater issue.

“We need to open our doors to be more accessible to the parents. We need to educate and empower parents,” she said.

She didn’t get any resistance.

Laura Bean of the Kent Center suggested that the economy has contributed to the problem.

“Really more than ever they [parents] are so stressed. How about reaching out to them,” she said.

Armed with the data and observations gleaned from discussion following the presentation, Coons called on the group to consider suggestions and reconvene in January.