“Surviving through age 18 in Detroit” began as a project with USC-Annenberg’s National Health Journalism Fellowship and grew into a year-long series focused on maternal and child health in Detroit. My goal was to quantify how the hardships and health risks faced by Detroit children impact their chances of surviving childhood. Mortality studies typically look at death rates for infants, or of kids 14 and younger. But these studies fail to capture the impact of gun violence, substance abuse and other health risks that increase during the teenage years.
I looked at death rates through the 18th year, because that is the year during which children who graduate high school generally reach that milestone. I collected and analyzed data on Detroit child deaths through age 18 from all causes–from birth defects to house fires, child abuse and gun violence—and found that prematurity and homicide are the greatest causes of child deaths in the city. Working with state health department across the country, I collected data on child death rates in other large cities and found that Detroit has the highest total child death rate, and the highest child homicide rate, among all cities its size and larger in the United States.
My findings were published in an initial two-day special report that focused on the deadly combination of health risks in Detroit, and projects underway to improve maternal and child health, improve access to health care, and heal families affected by trauma. The continuing series honed in on other aspects of Detroit’s public health crises, from high rates of abortion and maternal death caused by lack of access to health care, to tens of thousands of Detroit kids with untreated asthma.