Child Health Data Now Available Statewide
n Nov, 12, 2009, the Foundation marked a major
shift when it launched a statewide version of
its flagship website, kidsdata.org. While the
Foundation’s work previously had focused on the Bay Area,
now its goal is to elevate the visibility of children’s health
issues throughout California.
The newly expanded site offers data for all counties, cities and school districts in the state, and staff members have begun an active program to promote its use by policymakers, grantseekers, advocates, media and other key audiences.
The site also offers extensive new data sets, including data from the California Healthy Kids Survey that comprise self-reported information about student health behaviors and attitudes for nearly every school district in the state.
In conjunction with kidsdata.org, in December the Foundation released the “California Index of Child and Youth Well Being,” a study that uses data from the site to track the overall health of children over the last decade. A key finding of the study is that while children in California overall have made slow, steady gains over the past 10 years, much of this progress now is jeopardized by the current economic conditions.
More information about the Foundation’s data and information programs is available on the website at lpfch.org/informed.