CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - The number of teens giving birth has dropped significantly in Wyoming, but the state still has room to improve the lives of many children and families, officials say.

Deanna Frey, director of the Wyoming Children's Action Alliance, which puts out the annual Kids Count publication through a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, said many people in Wyoming will be surprised by the fact that the teenage birth rate is well below the national level.

The erroneous public perception often is opposite of that fact, she said.

But Frey said she is concerned about the amount of money a young mother or a young couple must pay for quality child care in Wyoming. The average annual cost in 2000 was $4,680 for a 12-month-old and $4,368 for a 4-year-old.

That is almost double what it costs for a year of college, she said, and often comes when parents are just starting out in their careers and simply can't afford it.

Frey said that alone illustrates the need for a trust fund for children in Wyoming, which the Legislature defeated earlier this month.

"By the time a child gets to kindergarten, we've lost five years," she said. "Why aren't we talking about early education instead of expanding prisons?"

Rodger McDaniel, director of the Wyoming Department of Family Services, said he worries about the effects of incarceration on the 6,155 teenagers who were arrested in Wyoming in 2002.

Imprisonment as a juvenile is one of the biggest indicators of serious problems in the future for a young person, McDaniel said.

"Adults have this sense that if you put kids in jail at the age of 14, it will teach them a lesson," he said. "Incarceration doesn't work. It causes damage."

Teenagers who are imprisoned generally don't go back to school, so they enter society unprepared for the future.

"If they're disruptive in school, instead of kicking them out, find alternative education for them. Keep them progressing toward graduation."

Several good models showing how that can be done already exist, he said.

Frey and McDaniel both said information in the WY Kids Count Data Book helps public and private policymakers make sound decisions.

They pointed to the ongoing Children and Families Initiative, authorized by the Legislature to determine the needs of families in Wyoming and services that exist or are needed to address them. Kids Count will help that process, they said.

"There aren't any magic pills or easy answers," Frey said.

But the data in the book can influence how the executive branch, legislators and the business community see children and families in Wyoming and the problems they face, she said.

Information from: Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, http://www.wyomingnews.com