Membership in gangs is up 25% this year in O.C.

Membership in Orange County youth gangs has increased 25% in the last year, according to a report presented to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

On the other hand, the report found that student test scores had improved and that the number of teen girls giving birth had dropped significantly.

“I think there’s lots of good news, and there are some areas we need to be concerned about,” said TerryLynn Fisher, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Social Services Agency, which helped prepare the report.

The 13th annual Report on the Conditions of Children in Orange County, compiled by county agencies, also found the following:

A 51% increase in children receiving MediCal benefits since 1996, with a 3% increase since last year;

A 20% decrease over the last decade in those being supported by the county;

And a 9% increase in the number of women receiving early prenatal care since 1996.

On the downside, researchers concluded that more Orange County children ages 4 and under are overweight -- 23% more since 2003.

The report’s findings could be helpful to county policymakers and social service providers, Fisher said.

“This is a report on how the children of Orange County are doing,” Fisher said. “They are our future leaders. You can’t make decent policy if you don’t know what’s happening in the community.”

Michael Riley, chief deputy director of the county’s social services agency, said that overall, things had improved for Orange County children.

“As Orange County continues to grow, we are beginning to experience the same urban ills as any other community would,” Riley said. “We feel we are adequately positioned to begin to mitigate those conditions.”

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david.haldane@latimes.com