About Kidsdata.org

What is Kidsdata.org?

  • Kidsdata.org, a program of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health, is a public service that promotes the health and well being of children by making trustworthy information easily accessible to policymakers, service providers, grantseekers, advocates, media, parents, educators, and others who influence kids' lives.
  • Through kidsdata.org, the foundation aims to raise the visibility of key issues affecting California's children and make it easy for leaders and policymakers to use data in their work, whether that's assessing community needs, setting priorities, tracking progress, making program/policy decisions, or identifying new areas of concern.
  • The kidsdata.org website allows users to easily find, customize, and share data on more than 400 measures of child health and well being. Data are available for every legislative district, city, county, and school district in California. User-friendly displays make it easy to incorporate data from more than 35 trusted public sources into reports, presentations, grant proposals, policy decisions, media stories, and advocacy work. 

Kidsdata.org's History

  • The website was created in 2004 for San Mateo and Santa Clara counties in the San Francisco Bay Area. The site evolved from children's reports in these two counties. The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health was a long-time investor in these local data reports and, based on community interest, built kidsdata.org to make these indicators more accessible and up-to-date on the web and to help identify and track key children's issues over time.
  • In 2007, kidsdata.org expanded to include other counties in the San Francisco Bay Area, including Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, and San Francisco. Also in 2007, a version of kidsdata.org launched in Santa Barbara County.
  • In fall 2009, kidsdata.org expanded to all counties, cities and school districts in California – about 1,600 regions.  Legislative districts have since been added, as well.
  • In 2005 and 2006, kidsdata.org was nominated as one of five finalists for a Webby Award -- the leading award for websites -- in the Family/Parenting category. Kidsdata.org also won a silver medal from the Council on Foundation's 2006 Wilmer Shields Rich Awards Program for Excellence in Communications. 

Using Kidsdata.org
  • You are welcome to make use of our data for research, reports, proposals, and other work, and permission to cite the information and reproduce the tables, graphs, or maps on kidsdata.org is granted. Suggested citation: [Original data source.] As cited on www.kidsdata.org, a project of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health. Retrieved on [date].
  • Find more information about how people are using kidsdata.org on our blog, Data Points. Also, tips for using the site are available on kidsdata’s Help page. 
  • Note that the data on kidsdata.org, like indicator data in many reports and websites, have not been tested for statistical significance, except in a few cases where noted. Apparent trends over time and differences across regions and among demographic groups may or may not be statistically significant.

Where does the data come from?

  • Nearly all data on the site are from public sources, though some indicators come from a Lucile Packard Foundation survey of parents about their child's well being. You can find information and links to the data sources in the notes below tables, maps, or graphs on indicator pages, or you can view a list of the data sources.
  • Data updates and analyses are provided by Population Reference Bureau and foundation staff. The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) data are provided through a partnership with WestEd and the California Department of Education.
  • Data on the site are updated continually. 

Who manages Kidsdata.org?

  • The website was created and is maintained by the Programs and Partnerships department of the Palo Alto-based Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health. The foundation's vision is that all children in the communities we serve are able to reach their maximum health potential.
  • Programming work for kidsdata.org is provided by Velir Studios. The site was designed by Anna Cobb. The data characters that appear on kidsdata.org were created by Twist Studio. 

How can I find out more information?

  • If you have questions or feedback, or want more information about kidsdata.org, please contact the foundation by e-mailing kidsdata@lpfch.org, or call (650) 736-0676.

Note: While the foundation is committed to maintaining the quality and integrity of kidsdata.org, technical or content glitches can occur. Please report any problems using the contact information above.