This week, advocates for children welcomed the publication of Maryland's first "Kids Count" fact book. There in cold, hard numbers are the facts about children in Maryland, facts that provide ammunition for the public policy debate.

Only a minority of the state's children -- 22 percent -- live in two-parent households where only one parent is in the labor force; only 7 percent of children live in a single-parent household where that parent doesn't work outside the home, and fewer than 1 percent of Maryland children live in two-parent households with neither parent working.

No so. It took a private effort -- a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation -- to produce the first of four Maryland "Kids Count" fact books. Maryland is one of several states to receive these grants. The hope is that by providing an annual profile of child well-being, policy makers will be better able to identify and invest in the services that produce the best results.