Look for the 2016 KIDS COUNT Data Book on June 21

The Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion’s annu­al KIDS COUNT Data Book will be released June 21, 2016. The report mea­sures the well-being of chil­dren across the nation, includ­ing the Dis­trict of Colum­bia and Puer­to Rico.

The pur­pose of com­pil­ing these data is to pro­vide those who advo­cate for kids with the tools they need to cre­ate effec­tive, data-informed poli­cies and pro­grams. Using data to inform deci­sion mak­ing helps ensure funds and resources are allo­cat­ed and dis­trib­uted in the most pro­duc­tive, effi­cient man­ner pos­si­ble. Advo­cates, non­prof­it lead­ers, fun­ders and pol­i­cy­mak­ers rou­tine­ly uti­lize the Data Book, along with the KIDS COUNT Data Cen­ter, to encour­age smart deci­sions on behalf of kids and fam­i­lies. The Foundation’s goal is that these trust­ed resources con­tribute to build­ing a strong, healthy and hap­py future for the next generation. 

In this year’s Data Book, the Foun­da­tion high­lights improve­ments in the well-being of kids, as well as the areas that are in need of atten­tion and sup­port. A child’s like­li­hood of thriv­ing is based on sev­er­al fac­tors, such as health and edu­ca­tion. But where a child lives also affects his or her devel­op­ment and access to opportunity. 

Last year’s Data Book ranked Min­neso­ta as the state where kids fare best, fol­lowed by New Hamp­shire, Mass­a­chu­setts, Iowa and Ver­mont. The states with the low­est rank­ings were Ari­zona, Neva­da, Louisiana, New Mex­i­co and Mississippi.

The Data Book uses four key domains to assess how kids are far­ing: eco­nom­ic well-being, edu­ca­tion, health and fam­i­ly and com­mu­ni­ty. Domains includes four indi­ca­tors, for a total of 16. Over­all state rank is deter­mined by com­bin­ing data from the top four domains, yet is not nec­es­sar­i­ly indica­tive of how states per­form in each cat­e­go­ry. To offer a com­pre­hen­sive set of sta­tis­tics, the Data Book also ranks the states accord­ing to their per­for­mance in each respec­tive domain. 

KIDS COUNT, an ini­tia­tive of the Casey Foun­da­tion, is a nation­al and state effort to track the well-being of kids in the Unit­ed States. In addi­tion to pro­vid­ing data, the Foun­da­tion sup­ports a net­work of state KIDS COUNT orga­ni­za­tions that con­tribute a local, in-depth per­spec­tive of how kids are far­ing in each state. Vis­it the KIDS COUNT Data Cen­ter for up-to-date infor­ma­tion on kids across the nation, and read the Foundation’s Data Book on June 21 to get a snap­shot of child well-being today.