Napa County agencies, schools and parents get a C+ when it comes to promoting local children’s health and well-being, according to a report recently released by Children Now.

In a report on most California counties, the national children’s advocacy organization graded Napa County on some 26 issues — from how many local children have health insurance or visit a dentist regularly to the number of Napa County children who are at a healthy body weight.

Not limited to evaluating health issues, the scorecard also included information about how many local children “feel connected to an adult,” children’s perceived and actual safety at school and on roads, and how many children are regularly read to by parents or teachers. Scholastic achievement was also addressed, including how many eighth-graders are taking algebra courses and how well students perform on standardized tests.

Heading the list were El Dorado, Placer and Marin counties, which each received a B-, the highest grade awarded by Children Now in the comprehensive report.

Napa County did better than the state average when it comes to the number of children with health insurance. Statistics reported by Children Now indicate that 95 percent of Napa County’s approximately 31,660 children were covered by some form of health insurance between 2001 and 2005. Local children’s self-perceived health status is also notable, with 72 percent of them reporting “very good” or “excellent” overall health.

Napa County children also feel relatively safe from violence. According to the report, 80 percent of elementary and middle school students report feeling safe at school, and 100 percent of children are “safe from homicide.”

When it comes to education, Napa County children are faring better than the state average in some ways. Eighty-one percent of area eighth-graders are enrolled in an algebra class, the report states. However, local children fall within state averages when it comes to how many fourth-grade students “meet or exceed state standards in English Language Arts” and how many 10th-graders pass the English portion of the high school exit exam.

According to the report, Napa County children are less likely than most in California to see a dentist regularly, with 67 percent receiving regular dental care.

But Maria Rodriguez, a manager at Napa’s Sister Ann Dental Clinic, said this number is on the rise. In 2007, Sister Ann staff members provided services for about 1,300 local children, while in 2006, the number was closer to 900, she said. The clinic remains the only local resource for children covered by Medi-Cal and other subsidized insurance plans.

Mark Diel, executive director of Children’s Health Initiative Napa County — which connects local children to several government-subsidized health insurance options — said there has been a rise in the number of children insured through his agency. When CHI launched in March of 2005, he said, there were 8,038 local children enrolled in subsidized health insurance. By March of 2008, that number climbed to 11,832.

Laura Keller, director of nursing for Napa County Health and Human Services, said the report released by Children Now can be used to improve local children’s services. Still, some of the data used to generate it is old. Information was collected from 2001 to 2007, according to a Children Now spokeswoman.

“I would probably give us a B rather than a C+ because Napa County is pretty unique in that we have so many resources here. We’re just the right size that we have really good collaboration between agencies. ... But I think (the report) is a reminder that there’s still a lot of work to be done,” Keller said.

However, the current volatile economic climate in California and across the nation may put children’s programs at risk, she added.

“There are cutbacks happening and they could get worse over the next couple years. Hopefully programs that are funded now won’t get cutbacks. ... I think we’re really going to have to work hard so we don’t (fall) back, but I think Napa (children) are probably better off than many kids,” she said.