New from Kidsdata.org: A Profile of Children with Special Health Needs

Feb. 3, 2009

Contact: Andy Krackov, senior director of public information, at (650) 736-0677 or andy.krackov@lpfch.org, if you have any questions.

Roughly 10 percent of children in California have special health care needs, such as asthma, heart problems, mental retardation or another condition that makes them frequent users of the state's health care system. Now available on kidsdata.org are a range of measures to describe how these children are faring. The 33 indicators include demographic data, and measurements of their ability to access services, the adequacy of their health insurance and the impact of their condition on themselves and their families.

Kidsdata is a wide-ranging, online clearinghouse of information about the health and well being of children in California and the Bay Area, provided by the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health. These data on special needs are drawn from the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs.