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Kids
Count |
Annie E. Casey Foundation's
annual Kids Count publication and website (www.kidscount.org) offer new
data and tools for assessing child well-being across and within states.
National and state-level inventories outlined in the KIDS COUNT Data Book
describe and rank states on ten key indicators, such as rates of child death,
teen births, high school dropout, single-parent families, and children living
in poverty. A composite score is used to rank states. A summary version
is available as a Pocket Guide. The 2003 essay makes the case for reducing
the high cost of being poor in America. Low-income families pay proportionately
more in transportation and child care to hold jobs and more for housing
and basic goods. Policy recommendations to level the cost of living included:
encourage quality retailers to locate in low-income communities; provide
financial education and opportunities to build credit; control financial
exploitation and "predatory" lenders; and protect earnings and
benefits.
The website's new features
allow users to retrieve state-specific data from various sources including
schools and examine local data. Demographic data for descriptive reports
include indicators of family economic conditions, child heath status (insurance,
immunizations levels), neighborhoods poverty and employment, isolation
(internet and telephone access) and housing costs. The user can make simple
tables, maps and graphs to describe county-level trends and generate county/community
rankings for selected indicators within their state. (Annie E Casey Foundation,
2003 KIDS COUNT Data Book, Baltimore, MD, 2003)
Comment: A prime
resource for your grant applications and local reports. Secondary schools
could let students use the website for research projects. Each state has
a primary contact office for Kids Count projects. -J.O.
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