Data on Youth Substance Use Now Available for Counties and School Districts Across the State
Just launched on kidsdata.org: Data from the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) on student reports of alcohol, cigarette, inhalant, and marijuana use. These data are available on kidsdata.org through a partnership between the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health and WestEd, which develops and administers the CHKS survey for the California Department of Education.
Some key findings from the 2006-08 data:
- More than 20% of California’s 11th graders said they engaged in binge drinking in the month prior to the survey.
- The percentage of students reporting the most use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana (20 days or more in the past 30 days), while small, increased statewide from 2005-07 to 2006-08; this was true for nearly all grades and types of drugs, as well as for both boys and girls.
- Students who reported feeling more connected to their schools were least likely to use alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana.
- About 14% of 7th-grade girls and 12% of 7th-grade boys said they have used inhalants at least once.
See All Data: All 27 measures of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use are available at the state, county, and school district levels.
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Also New: Juvenile Felony Arrest Data by Age, Gender, Race/Ethnicity and Type of Offense
On kidsdata.org, you now can find the number and rate of juvenile felony arrests for all California counties, as well as the number of arrests by city (10 largest cities in CA - click “choose counties and cities” from the webpage to add more cities).
Some key trends:
See All Data: Find all 8 measures of juvenile felony arrests.
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Here’s a Simple Way to Stay Up to Date on the Data You Need
Through e-alerts, you now can sign up to be notified by e-mail when data about the specific topics, regions, or demographic groups you’re interested in are updated on kidsdata.org. Want to learn more? Read our blog post or just sign up.
New on Data Points
A number of new posts have been added to Data Points, the kidsdata.org blog, including:
And, don’t forget, the blog also offers a forum where our data experts can answer your questions about data, as well as a page where you can note how you’re using kidsdata.org.
Kidsdata.org: Upcoming Events
Here are a few places you might see kidsdata.org in the coming weeks:
- On March 25, look for kidsdata fliers at the California Budget Project conference in Sacramento, which kidsdata.org is sponsoring.
- On April 2, in partnership with First 5 Stanislaus County, we’ll present an introduction to kidsdata.org for individuals in Stanislaus, San Joaquin, and Merced counties. If you are in the area and would like to join us, RSVP here.
- On April 21, we’re also sponsoring and attending the California School Health Centers Association regional conference in Oakland.
Interested in hosting a presentation about kidsdata.org for your community? Let us know.
How You Want to Hear From Us – Thanks for Your Responses
More than 115 people answered our recent poll asking how you want to receive information from kidsdata.org. If you responded, thank you! People overwhelmingly told us they want to hear about children’s health news, data, and legislation in newsletter format - and more frequently than monthly. Stay tuned for revamped communications from kidsdata.org. If you have additional feedback, contact us at kidsdata@lpfch.org.
More Statewide Data Coming Soon…
You now can find wide-ranging data for counties, cities, and school districts across the state related to child safety, demographics, family economics, physical health, and substance use. Data on depression, suicide and self-inflicted injury, and school connectedness for all California counties will be added in early spring.
Kidsdata in the News
Kidsdata.org was the focus of a recent briefing for ethnic news reporters in the Fresno area. Participants discussed a range of issues, from childhood poverty to the need for better racial/ethnic breakdowns of children’s data. The event was sponsored by New America Media. View a video summary. |
