Sullivan County ranks last in state for family, community well-being

Sullivan County ranked last in Tennessee for family and community well-being, according to a state report released by the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth. The 2025 County Profiles in Child Well-Being ranked Sullivan County 95th in the Family and Community category. The report points to high youth crime, chronic school absenteeism and rates of child abuse and neglect as the main factors behind the ranking. "A lot of the challenges that children face are intertwined," said Kylie Graves, director of data, policy and communications for the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth. "That's why we look at all of these things together in the annual report." Graves said the annual report evaluates counties across four areas: economic well-being, education, health, and family and community. "The Family and Community ranking is based on three measures, that's youth crime rate, chronic absenteeism and victims of abuse or neglect," Graves said. Sullivan County's youth crime rate was 64.8 incidents per 1,000 youth, ranking 92nd in the state. The report identifies youth crime among children ages 10 to 17 as the county's biggest challenge. It also said there are opportunities for improvement in child care cost burden. Chronic absenteeism, which is defined as students missing 10% or more of school days, was 20.9%, ranking the county 77th statewide for the 2023–24 school year. The rate of children identified as victims of abuse or neglect was 30.4 per 1,000, putting the county in 70th place during the 2023–24 fiscal year. The county performed better in other areas, including health, where it ranked fifth statewide, in part due to a low rate of uninsured children at 4.3%. The county also posted a 94.7% high school graduation rate, ranking 53rd in Tennessee. Absenteeism trends Matthew Smith, coordinator of attendance for Kingsport City Schools, said his office works directly with students and families who exceed the legal limit of unexcused absences. "All of the students on our caseload have six or more unexcused absences," Smith said. "A lot of our work is focused on students who are truly in violation of attendance laws." Smith said chronic absenteeism increased significantly following the COVID-19 pandemic, as families were encouraged to keep children home for even mild symptoms. "We did the right thing for two or three years by telling people to stay home," Smith said. "Now we're trying to reprogram that mindset. A sniffle or a cough doesn't always mean a student needs to stay home anymore." Before the pandemic, Smith said Kingsport City Schools averaged about 13.5% chronic absenteeism. Since then, the issue has become more widespread. The district has introduced incentives such as attendance competitions, classroom rewards and recognition programs to encourage students to come to school. Smith said relationship-building with families is most important. "This isn't something you can fix overnight," he said. "It takes knocking on doors, building trust and working with families to say, 'We've got to do this together.'" Smith said the district has seen improvement. Since last year, chronic absenteeism has dropped by about six percentage points. He said factors including family instability, housing challenges and economic hardship also play a role. How the data is used Graves said the county profiles are compiled each year using data from multiple state and federal sources. They are based on how counties compare across 12 indicators. The data generally reflects information from one to two years prior. For Sullivan County's family and community measures, youth crime data came from 2023, chronic absenteeism from the 2023–24 school year, and abuse and neglect figures from the 2023–24 fiscal year. The commission has nine regional coordinators across the state who work with local leaders to help communities use the data to address problem areas. "They will take that information to county mayors or city officials," Graves said. "For example, a couple years ago, based on the information and the ranking that Madison County had, they took the information and formed a children's cabinet to address some of the concerns." Gabriela Smith, regional coordinator for the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth in Northeast Tennessee, said her role centers on connecting local child service providers. "My role with TCCY is to manage the Regional Council," Smith said. "It consists of boots-on-the-ground child service workers from all sectors. We meet quarterly to talk about trends, concerns, and updates related to children, youth and families." Graves said the county profiles are also shared with the Tennessee General Assembly, giving lawmakers a clearer picture of conditions in their home counties. "When communities have high poverty levels, that can affect education," Graves said. "If kids are going to school hungry, that impacts their ability to focus." The goal of the report, she said, is to help communities understand where they are doing well and where more focus is needed. "Giving the community the information so they can understand where they're doing well and where they need to continue that investment is the goal of the report," Graves said.