Get State Data
This website presents data on child and family well-being and links this data to strategies for improving outcomes.
See data for:
Children are Healthy
Children Enter School Ready to Learn and Prepared to Succeed
Children Grow Up in Safe, Supportive and Economically Successful Families
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Exits from Foster Care to Reunification
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Exits from Foster Care to Adoption
Youth are Prepared to Succeed as Adults
Looking at the data for the past and present allows policymakers to identify trends in the conditions of children and families and provides a baseline for measuring future progress. To determine if your state is on the right course and if efforts are having the desired impact on children’s lives, trends must be regularly monitored. This website allows users to graph specific indicator data for their state and compare the trend with other states and the nation.
What You Need To Know
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Routine monitoring allows for quick response. Some indicators widely fluctuate over time, while other trends change gradually. Routine monitoring allows policymakers to become familiar with various indicators’ general patterns and to immediately identify unexpected changes. If leaders craft timely and research-informed strategies when conditions begin to worsen, they may be more effective than if they do not respond until a negative trend becomes established.
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Trends for children of color, age groups and other sub-populations tell a more complete story. Trends for sub-populations often tell a very different story than statewide indicators for the children and families. Examining trends for specific groups provides a more complete, well-informed picture, which can guide development of strategies to benefit the state as a whole.
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Maintaining a stable course may not be good enough. When trends and projections are relatively flat, it can be tempting to settle for good enough. However, indicators represent actual children’s lives and even flat trends can have an enormous impact on their futures.