Today the Bay Area, Soon the Whole State. Kidsdata Expands!
Don’t forget to tell your colleagues that kidsdata.org is expanding to all California counties, cities, and school districts this fall. Approximately 200 indicators will be available statewide. For more information, and to sign up to be notified when the statewide site launches, visit www.kidsdata.org/statewide.
Homelessness Data for Bay Area/CA Now Available on kidsdata.org
Kidsdata.org just added new indicators on homelessness, a serious issue facing a growing number of children in California. The data come from two sources, each of which covers a different aspect of homelessness and gathers data in a different way.
- Homeless Students in California Up More Than 50% from '04 to '08
The number of homeless students enrolled in public schools in California grew by 57% between 2004 and 2008, from 142,554 to 224,249. By the definition used for this indicator, homeless students, who accounted for 3.6% of the state’s public school students, include those whose primary nighttime residence is a shelter, hotel, or motel; who are doubled-up with another family temporarily because of economic hardship; or who are unsheltered. These data are not available at the county level.
- 26% of CA's Homeless Members of Families with Children
According to the January 2007 homeless census, which counts only homeless people who are unsheltered, living in places not intended for human habitation, or staying in homeless shelters, 41,000 people in families with children were homeless in California. In the Bay Area, individuals in families with children accounted for a high of 37.5% of homeless people in Alameda County, and a low of 9.3% in San Francisco.
Newly Updated on Kidsdata.org
- 57 Youth Suicides in the Bay Area in 2007: Across the Bay Area, the rate of suicides per 100,000 youth ages 15-24 was similar to California’s rate of 6.9 in 2005-07, except in San Mateo County whose rate was 9.5. The state’s youth suicide rate dropped from 8.4 in 1996-1998 to 6.7 in 1999-2001 and has been steady since then.
- Local African American/Black Children and Youth Face Greatest Risk of Dying: Consistent with previous years, the 2005-07 death rate for African American children and youth ages 1-24 in the Bay Area was the highest of any racial/ethnic group. The death rate for African American children and youth ranged from 126.8 deaths per 100,000 in San Francisco to 74.4 in San Mateo County. The lowest death rates, which are among Asian American and Caucasian/White children and youth, are about one-fourth as high.
Among age groups, the death rate is highest for youth ages 15-24; statewide, the leading cause of death in that age group is unintentional injuries or accidents.
- Bay Area Falls Short of National Goals for Prenatal Care and Low Birthweight: According to data recently updated on kidsdata.org, none of the six Bay Area counties in 2007 met the Healthy People 2010 objective that 90% of births are to mothers who received prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy. Also in 2007, California and all Bay Area counties fell short of the objective that no more than 5% of infants have low birthweight (less than 5 lbs. 5 oz.). Statewide and in most Bay Area counties, the percentage of infants born at low birthweight increased from 1995 to 2007.
- Infant Mortality Rate Declining Locally, Statewide: In the state and most Bay Area counties, the infant mortality rate declined from 1996-98 to 2005-07. In 2005-07 most local counties met the Healthy People 2010 objective of fewer than 4.5 deaths per 1,000 infants.
A Focus on Children with Special Health Care Needs
Kidsdata Monthly has been featuring some of the new California indicators available on children with special health care needs. Following are more data highlights for these children, who represent about 10% of all children in California.
- Low-Income Children More Likely to Have Unmet Health Needs: More than one in four California children with special health care needs who live in households with lower incomes -- that is, incomes under 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) -- had one or more unmet needs for medical care, according to the most recent data from 2005-06. In contrast, 11.2% of children with household incomes 400% of the FPL or higher had such unmet needs.
Kidsdata in the News
Data about children with autism from kidsdata.org are cited in this San Francisco Business Times article about software that aims to help families track data about their child’s autism treatments.
(SF Business Times, 6/5/09, by Hoag)
The San Jose Mercury News cited kidsdata as the source for this feature on how parents say their kids spend time. These data come from a 2006 poll of Bay Area parents commissioned by the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health.
(SJ Mercury, 6/23/09, by Poitinger)
County-Specific Kidsdata Websites:
Alameda | Contra Costa | Marin | San Francisco | San Mateo | Santa Clara |
