Colorado Children’s Campaign presents 2025 Kids Count data showing prenatal care and child-care gaps in Custer County

Maya Gould, vice president of research at the Colorado Children’s Campaign, presented the organization’s 2025 Kids Count county profile to the Custer County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 10, summarizing statewide and county-level child well‑being data and policy implications.

Gould told the board that Custer County has about 800 children—roughly 15 percent of the county population—and that a family of four in the county was estimated to need about $82,000 a year to meet basic needs. “For a family of 4, it’s estimated they need almost $82,000 a year to afford all of their basic needs,” Gould said.

The presentation highlighted several local indicators the campaign said warrant attention: an estimated 24 percent of children in Custer County live at or below double the federal poverty level; roughly 40 percent of babies born in 2023 in Custer County were born to mothers who did not receive prenatal care in the first trimester; Custer County had about 50–52 licensed child‑care slots; and the county’s child uninsured rate was around 5 percent. Gould noted that statewide point‑in‑time counts and McKinney‑Vento education data have shown a marked increase in the number of children experiencing homelessness.

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