New Data Available in the KIDS COUNT Data Center

The KIDS COUNT Data Center has been updated with new data from the U.S. Census Bureau, including indicators of child well-being from the American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey. Topics include children under five in poverty and children in single-parent families. See Data Across States for the latest information.

NEW Data From Kids Count Available

CDC Public Health Data & Statistics - New Report on Breastfeeding

Data And Statistics

Getting Connected for Kids: Tips on Finding Data and Research to Improve Policy and Practice

This DC Action for Children guide has practical, easy-to-use advice on the policymaking process and how to influence it, as well as a round-up of the best sites, blogs and research tools for your work!
http://www.dckids.org/documents/downloads/DC%20Action%20Getting%20Connected%20for%20Kids.pdf

Dental Disparities

Previously unreleased figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that in 2003 and 2004, the most recent years with data available, 27 percent of children and 29 percent of adults had cavities going untreated. The level of untreated decay was the highest since the late 1980s and significantly higher than that found in a survey from 1999 to 2002.

Read an article on this topic:
Boom Times for Dentists, but Not for Teeth
By ALEX BERENSON
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/business/11decay.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

KIDS COUNT Infant Mortality Data Brief

KIDS COUNT Infant Mortality Data Brief

We are delighted to release a new data brief entitled Infant Mortality – Understanding the complexities of death among Virginia’s youngest citizens.

Although Virginia ranks well among the states on most indicators of child well-being, Virginia ranks 31st on infant mortality (KIDS COUNT online data, 2004). We hope this brief will help advocates, policymakers, and the media understand more about the causes and complexities of infant mortality. As we point out in the brief, rates vary by locality and by race. The infant mortality rate for African Americans was 14.4 deaths per 1,000 births in 2005 compared to 5.9 for Whites.

Public Comment to Include Graduation Rates as a Requirement for Standards of Accreditation

Please submit public comment to the Board of Education in support of including graduation rates as a requirement for schools to meet their Standards of Accreditation. Comments are due July 13, 2007. For a copy of our public comment letter and talking points, courtesy of JustChildren, please contact voices@vakids.org

Send your letter to:

Mrs. Anne D. Wescott
Assistant Superintendent for Policy and Communications
Virginia Department of Education
P.O. Box 2120
Richmond, VA 23218-2120
Policy@doe.virginia.gov
Fax: 804.786.5389

Survey - Most Asthma Patients have Uncontrolled Disease

Not kid-centered, but asthma related - check it out…
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/06/18/health.asthma.reut/index.html