Report Says A Quarter of Hamilton County Kids May Not Be Ready to Enter Kindergarten

A new report says one in four Hamilton County children is at risk of not being ready to enter kindergarten.

Using 2006 data...the report by the Community Research Council says of the 20,000 children under five in Hamilton County twenty percent live in poverty.

And that 37% of mothers report an annual household income under $15,000.

The report also finds 29 percent of those children live in single parent homes and 25% are born to mothers with less than a high school education.

There are several services available to help these at risk kids.

District 10 Tennessee Sen. Andy Berke says, "This study identifies the different problems that we have out there. So the next step is trying to figure out what do we do from here. How do we make sure that we get the services from these great people to the kids who need them."

Each year $30 Million is spent on early intervention programs to help at risk kids in Hamilton Country.