++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Are you one in the caring compassionate category who likes to keep your finger on the pulse of quality-of-life for our nation’s infants and children? Did you know that there’s a project sponsored by The Annie E. Casey Foundation dedicated to “Helping vulnerable kids and families succeed?”  Below you will find links to the most up-to-date and accurate information about the ‘state of the union’ of our nation’s most at-risk offspring.

Click here to reach KIDS COUNT DATA CENTER where anyone can “access hundreds of measures of child well-being.”  I ‘friended’ KIDS COUNT on Facebook so that I receive all kinds of valuable information on the state of our nation’s vulnerable little ones ASAP!  This is the link to KIDS COUNT main page.

+

KIDS COUNT The Annie E. Casey Foundation is now on Facebook. Become their fan and receive updates on current and future work related to children and families: http://ow.ly/3DarQ

+

On KIDS COUNT main data bank website you can access DATA BY STATE

• Data within the bounds of a single state or territory
• Includes community-level data
• Search by location or topic
• Create profiles, maps, rankings, line graphs, or raw data

As well as DATA ACROSS STATES

• Data spanning the U.S.
• Compare states or cities
• Search by topic
• Create maps, rankings, line graphs, or raw data

There is even a KIDS COUNT DATA CENTER HELP PAGE

Some of the information you can access on this site (well, the full report pdf file didn’t open on my computer but might on yours!) –

This is the list of key indicators the KIDS COUNT collects national data on about child well-being for The 2010 KIDS COUNT DATA BOOK:

• Child Death Rate (deaths per 100,000 children ages 1–14)
• Infant Mortality Rate (deaths per 1,000 live births)
• Overall Rank
• Percent Change Over Time Analysis
• Percent Low–Birthweight Babies
• Percent of Children in Poverty (income below $21,834 for a family of two adults and two children in 2008)
• Percent of Children in Single-Parent Families
• Percent of Children Living in Families Where No Parent Has Full–Time, Year–Round Employment
• Percent of Teens Not Attending School and Not Working (ages 16–19)
• Percent of Teens Not in School and Not High School Graduates (ages 16–19)
• Teen Birth Rate (births per 1,000 females ages 15–19)
• Teen Death Rate (deaths per 100,000 teens ages 15–19)

Updated on 1/26/2011

• Children in poverty
• Children in single-parent families
• Children in single-parent families by race
• KIDS COUNT overall rank
• Teens ages 16 to 19 not in school and not high school graduates

·  CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DATA AVAILABLE 12/1/2010

Congressional District data are now available for over 20 indicators including many of the poverty and employment indicators obtained from the 2009 American Community Survey.

Access the profile for your congressional district in Data By State and/or watch this short video to see how you can get started.

NEW EMPLOYMENT DATA AVAILABLE 11/23/2010

The Economic Well-Being section in Data Across States has been updated. Data includes estimates from the 2009 American Community Survey. Updated data for the U.S., states, and cities:
§ Children below 250% poverty
§ Children in low-income working families by age group
§ Children living in low-income households where no adults work
§ Children living in families where no parent has full-time, year round employment
§ Children living in families where no parent has full-time, year round employment, by race (US and states only)
§ Children age 6 to 12 with all available parents in the labor force
§ Median family (with child) income
§ Low-income working families with children

POPULAR TOPICS — Updated on 1/26/2011

• Children in poverty
• Children in single-parent families
• Children in single-parent families by race
• KIDS COUNT overall rank
• Teens ages 16 to 19 not in school and not high school graduates

+++++++

This is an example of other information that KIDS COUNT disseminates.  This information appeared on my Facebook page yesterday:

The Nation’s Report Card – Kids Scores in Science

Fewer than one-half of students perform at or above the Proficient level in science at all three grades

“Students throughout the nation in grades 4, 8, and 12 participated in the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in science. The assessment was updated in 2009 to keep the content current with key developments in science, curriculum standards, and research. To establish the baseline for future science assessments, the overall average score for each grade was set at 150 on a 0 to 300 scale.

• Thirty-four percent of fourth-graders, 30 percent of eighth-graders, and 21 percent of twelfth-graders performed at or above the Proficient level.
• Seventy-two percent of fourth-graders, 63 percent of eighth-graders, and 60 percent of twelfth-graders performed at or above the Basic level.
• One percent of fourth-graders, 2 percent of eighth-graders, and 1 percent of twelfth-graders performed at the Advanced level.
• Scores were higher than the nation in 24 states/jurisdictions at fourth-grade and 25 states/jurisdictions at eighth-grade.
• At grade 12, there was no significant difference in scores for White and Asian/Pacific Islander students, and both groups scored higher on average than other racial/ethnic groups.”

Explore more national and state results.

For more information, browse the report online or download a copy of the report.

++

This information also appeared on my Facebook page yesterday from KIDS COUNT on data they have collected:

Children in low-income households where housing costs exceed 30 percent of income (Percent) – 2009 (updated November 2010)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++