Caregivers’ Concern That Their Children Are Falling Behind in School, California, July 2021

In March 2020, many students faced an abrupt and confusing change to their schooling as restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic kept them from physically attending school. In November 2020, 72% percent of California caregivers reported that their children’s school had closed at some point in the first nine months of the pandemic. Students across the state had varied experiences with remote instruction, including the amount of time they attended virtual school, the quality of remote learning, access to needed technology, and more. Even if a child did not experience school closure, their education may have been disrupted with new routines, leading many caregivers to wonder, “Is my child falling behind in school?”

Caregivers shared their thoughts on the Family Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic questionnaire. Nearly two-thirds of California caregivers (65%) were concerned that their youngest school-aged child was falling behind in school at the end of the 2020-2021 school year, including 29% who were moderately concerned and 17% who were extremely concerned. A father of a 10-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy shared, “As a parent, I worried about my children’s education. I think that was the biggest concern… so I tried to help them and make the remote studying [more] acceptable.”

It is too soon to know whether concerns about educational progress foretell academic outcomes. Early in the pandemic, high school graduation rates stayed nearly flat, with about 84% of California students graduating in 2019 and 2020. Among third-graders, about half of all students met or exceeded grade level standards in English language arts (49%) and mathematics (50%) in 2019, but because of temporary testing suspensions, more recent data are unavailable. As students continue to fulfill graduation requirements and academic testing resumes, future data collection will fill in the story of pandemic-induced academic disruption.

National-level findings show that caregivers who were somewhat to extremely concerned about their child falling behind in school were more than twice as likely to spank, slap, or hit their child than those who reported no concern (22% compared with 10%). This finding, along with additional findings and recommendations, was published in an American Academy of Pediatrics snapshot, “Parental Concern About Children Falling Behind in School During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Prevent Child Abuse America, and Tufts Medical Center. Based on this finding, pediatricians and others might ask parents about their children’s education and how they are dealing with their concerns. Resources for pediatricians and families can help provide guidance.

Children’s Health Resource

Historic Crisis, Historic Opportunity: Using Evidence to Mitigate the Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis on Young Children and Early Care and Education Programs is a policy brief from the Education Policy Initiative at the University of Michigan. It shares findings from a systematic review of 76 studies on early care and education programs during the pandemic and offers policy recommendations.

Webinar

Join us for a webinar where we will further explore the findings on caregivers’ concerns about their children’s educational progress. During the webinar, Child Well-Being During the Pandemic, Lori Turk-Bicakci, KidsData’s director, will discuss this topic and provide an overview of its data source, share findings, and demonstrate how to access the data on the KidsData website. Also, Tracy Mendez, California School-Based Health Alliance’s executive director, will share information on the pandemic’s impact on young people from the perspective of school-based health centers (SBHCs) and how SBHCs can help address concerns about student health and well-being.

The webinar will take place on November 18th from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (PST). Please register here.

Recently Released Data

We recently released data about high school graduation, college eligibility, and physical fitness. See links to the latest here.

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Caregivers’ Concern for Their Children’s Emotional or Mental Health, California, July 2021

Disruptions to everyday life, particularly on a mass scale, have the potential to shape children in profound ways. Social isolation, canceled recreational activities, and interrupted school routines, coupled with fear of the unknown related to the COVID-19 pandemic, may be harming children’s mental health and progressing into distressing behaviors. Reports from caregivers provide mounting evidence that they are highly concerned for their children’s well-being, and the need for intervention may be great.

In the May 2020 issue of KidsData News, we summarized research that may help us understand the possible impacts of a pandemic on children’s mental health. Now, data from the Family Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic questionnaire offer us a glimpse of how California children are faring.

A majority of caregivers are concerned about their children’s mental health. Almost two-thirds of California caregivers (65%) were concerned about their oldest child’s emotional or mental well-being during the previous month when asked in July 2021, including 31% who were moderately concerned and 12% who were extremely concerned.

Even before the pandemic, data from the California Health Interview Survey and the California Healthy Kids Survey suggested mounting mental health challenges among California youth. From 2005 to 2017-2018, the percentage of youth ages 12 to 17 who needed help in the previous 12 months for emotional or mental health problems increased from 17% to 23%. Additionally, the percentage of 7th grade students who in the previous year felt sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more increased from 25% in 2011-2013 to 30% in 2017-2019. In time, we will see how these data change with the progress of the pandemic and current interventions.

Early detection and intervention for mental health challenges has grown in importance since the pandemic began. Addressing these challenges through schools, where children are most often present outside the home, may be one feasible approach.

A trio of major national-level statements on the critical need to broadly address children’s mental health were released on October 19th, and they include school-based supports as a promising approach to intervention. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association have joined together to declare a National State of Emergency in Children’s Mental Health. The White House issued a fact sheet, Improving Access and Care for Youth Mental Health and Substance Use Conditions. In addition, the U.S. Department of Education released a resource, Supporting Child and Student Social, Emotional, Behavioral and Mental Health, that includes examples of how schools have put recommendations into action. In California, and across the nation, we have the chance to fundamentally change how we address mental health challenges among youth and support a more positive future.

Children’s Health Resource

The new Student Health Index from the California School-Based Health Alliance is the first statewide comprehensive interactive mapping tool to identify the counties, districts, and schools where establishing school-based health centers could have the greatest impact on improving student health and education equity.

Webinar

Join us for a webinar where we will further explore the findings on caregivers’ concerns about their children’s mental health. During the webinar, Child Well-Being During the Pandemic, Lori Turk-Bicakci, KidsData’s director, will discuss this topic and provide an overview of its data source, share findings, and demonstrate how to access the data on the KidsData website. Also, Tracy Mendez, California School-Based Health Alliance’s executive director, will share information on the pandemic’s impact on young people from the perspective of school-based health centers (SBHCs) and how SBHCs can help address concerns about student health and well-being.

The webinar will take place on November 18th from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (PST). Please register here.

Recently Released Data

We recently released data about student weight. See links to the latest here.

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You are invited to a webinar discussing key findings from the Family Experiences with the COVID-19 Pandemic questionnaire and sharing school-based approaches to address child health and well-being concerns. The webinar will take place on November 18th from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (PST).

Lori Turk-Bicakci, KidsData’s director, will provide an overview of this data source, share findings, and demonstrate how to access the data on the KidsData website. In addition to an overview of findings, she will focus on caregivers’ reflections on their children’s educational progress and their emotional well-being during the pandemic.

Tracy Mendez, executive director of the California School-Based Health Alliance, will share about the impact of the pandemic on young people from the perspective of school-based health centers (SBHCs), how SBHCs can help address concerns about student health and well-being, and where opportunities exist to improve and expand school health services.

Throughout the webinar, you will have an opportunity to ask questions, share observations, and learn from others.

This webinar will be hosted by The Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative, a project of the California Department of Public Health, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB) and the California Department of Social Services, Office of Child Abuse Prevention (CDSS/OCAP).

When: Thursday, November 18, 2021, 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (PST).

Register: Please register here.

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KidsData released the final wave of data from the Family Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic questionnaire today. These data share caregivers’ reflections as of July 2021 on the following topics:

• Education, Health Care, and Social Activities
• Economic Security
• Supportive Services
• Emotional and Behavioral Health
• Child and Caregiver Safety
• Adverse Childhood Experiences
• Positive Childhood Experiences
• Caring for Children With Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN)

With three waves of data for most indicators now available, we can see how experiences changed over the course of the pandemic (November 2020, March 2021, and July 2021). Experiences with child care, health care appointments, and social activities were markedly better in July 2021 compared with earlier in the pandemic. For example:

• 5% of caregivers reported in July 2021 that their child care was still closed. Previously, about 17% of caregivers had reported child care closures at some point during the pandemic.
• 6% of caregivers reported that medical or dental appointments were still being canceled in July 2021. Previously, 29% of caregivers reported appointment cancelations during the pandemic.
• 14% of caregivers reported that their children’s play dates or get-togethers with peers were still being canceled in July 2021. Previously, about 40% of caregivers reported cancelations of informal activities during the pandemic.

Learn more about the questionnaire and its collaborators who made it possible in About the Data Source.

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Child and Family Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic provides quick access to data available on KidsData.org that describe life disruptions and emotional and behavioral consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data help measure the pandemic’s impact on children and caregivers, builds understanding of how families are faring, and suggests where support might be most needed.

Access data on the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on critical areas of children’s health and well-being:

• Education, Health Care, and Social Activities
• Economic Security
• Supportive Services
• Emotional and Behavioral Health
• Child and Caregiver Safety
• Adverse Childhood Experiences
• Positive Childhood Experiences
• Caring for Children With Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN)

Data are available for California and seven regions within California. At the state level, findings are broken down by income level, race/ethnicity, and presence of a child with special health care needs in the household. Visit the topic summary page for more information and links to additional research.

Sign up for KidsData News to receive periodic highlights on child well-being from this questionnaire and other noteworthy data sources.

Caregivers Share Their Thoughts

Caregivers responding to the Child and Family Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic questionnaire reflected on caring for their children during the pandemic.

“I feel like I have become more loving, considerate, and patient with my children. The need to stay home has helped us create structure. I thought I was going to get irritated by having my kids home with me all the time, but it’s really been the opposite.”

“I’ve had to let go of a lot of expectations and have really learned what is important.”

“The biggest issue is protecting my child from my own anxiety and worries. She’s young enough that her daily life isn’t too disrupted but old enough to know the grownups are upset.”

About the Data Source

The data come from a national questionnaire covering a wide range of content areas to help inform on the pandemic’s impact. The questionnaire, Family Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic, was designed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Prevent Child Abuse America (PCAA), and Tufts Medical Center, Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences (HOPE). Findings from the questionnaire are intended to inform experts at AAP, CDC, PCAA, and HOPE on the pandemic’s effects on families and help them produce resources for medical practitioners, caregivers, and others.

In California, the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health (LPFCH) and the California Department of Public Health Essentials for Childhood Initiative (EfC) led by the California Department of Public Health, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch and the California Department of Social Services, Office of Child Abuse Prevention, funded an oversample of the questionnaire to produce findings at the sub-state level and about children with special health care needs. Findings will inform policy makers, program leaders, advocates, and others about how experiences varied within California and to what extent families with children with special health care needs faced greater challenges.

The questionnaire was administered in California in three waves across nine months. The first wave was administered from Nov. 9, 2020 to Dec. 11, 2020, the second wave was administered from March 22, 2021 to April 12, 2021, and the third wave was administered July 8, 2021 to July 27, 2021.

To learn more about the development of the questionnaire and access national-level findings, visit Family Snapshots: Life During the Pandemic on the American Academy of Pediatrics website.

Questionnaire Sample

In California, wave one included 1,526 caregivers who had at least one child under age 18 in the household. Wave two included 1,520 caregivers, and wave three included 1,602 caregivers. Most caregivers were married or in a domestic partnership (69% in wave one, 72% in wave two, and 73% in wave three). In wave one, 29% of caregivers had at least one child with a special health care need in the household; in wave two, it was 35% of caregivers; and in wave three, it was 34% of caregivers. Children with special health care needs have or are at increased risk for a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional condition and require health and related services of a type or amount beyond that required by children generally.

Demographics were similar in each wave. Using wave one as representative of all waves, just over half of caregivers were female (54%). The racial/ethnic characteristics of caregivers included Hispanic (49%), white (28%) Asian (9%), Black (5%), and Native American (2%). About the same percentage of caregivers in all three waves had a high school diploma (30%), attended some college or had a two-year degree (29%), or had a four-year or post-graduate degree (30%), while 12% of caregivers did not have a high school diploma.

Annual household income differed slightly across the waves. The percentage of caregivers who reported incomes under $30,000 decreased (28% in wave one, 25% in wave two, and 22% in wave three), while reports of incomes at $100,000 and above increased (25% in waves one and two and 29% in wave three).

In each wave, data are weighted to reflect caregivers for children under age 18 in California.

Related Webinar

The webinar, “Family Experiences During COVID-19 Pandemic Data,” features an overview of the questionnaire and covers national and California-level findings from presenters, Drs. Robert Sege from the HOPE Project at Tufts Medical Center and Lori Turk-Bicakci from the KidsData program. The webinar was sponsored by the California Department of Public Health, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch and the California Department of Social Services, Office of Child Abuse Prevention’s Essentials for Childhood Initiative. The recording and slides are available.

Data on Family Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Education, Health Care, and Social Activities

• Children’s School Arrangement
• Children’s School Currently Closed
• Children’s School Ever Closed During Pandemic
• Positive but Stressful Experiences Helping Children With Schoolwork
• Positive and Stressful Experiences Helping Children With Schoolwork, by Type
• Concern That Children Are Falling Behind at School
• Children’s Activities Currently Disrupted, by Type of Disruption
• Children’s Activities Ever Disrupted During Pandemic, by Type of Disruption
• Children’s Informal Social Activities Currently Canceled
• Children’s Informal Social Activities Ever Canceled During Pandemic
• Young Children’s Vaccinations Currently Postponed
• Young Children’s Vaccinations Ever Postponed During Pandemic

Economic Security

• Caregiver’s Employment Status
• Change in Caregiver’s Employment During Pandemic
• Reduction in Caregiver’s Working Hours to Care for Children or Others
• Change in Household Financial Situation During Pandemic

Supportive Services

• Current Use of Social Safety Net Resources
• Any Use of Social Safety Net Resources Before and During Pandemic
• Any Use of CalFresh Before and During Pandemic
• Any Use of Food Bank Services Before and During Pandemic
• Any Use of Free or Reduced-Price School Meals Before and During Pandemic
• Any Use of Public Health Insurance Before and During Pandemic
• Any Use of Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program Before and During Pandemic

Emotional and Behavioral Health

• Concern for Children’s Emotional or Mental Health in Past Month
• Feelings of Anger Toward Children in Past Week
• Feelings of Closeness to Children During Pandemic
• Caregiver Confidence in Ability to Control Important Things in Past Month
• Caregiver Confidence in Ability to Control Important Things During Pandemic
• Caregiver Feelings of Stress and Accumulating Difficulties in Past Month
• Caregiver Feelings of Stress and Accumulating Difficulties During Pandemic
• Caregiver Self-Care Activities in Response to Stress in Past Month
• Caregiver Substance Use in Response to Stress in Past Month
• People From Whom Caregiver Sought Support in Past Month
• Change in Race/Ethnicity Discrimination Against Caregiver During Pandemic
• Change in Sexual Orientation Discrimination Against Caregiver During Pandemic

Child and Caregiver Safety

• Intimate Partner Violence Against Caregivers
• Physical and Harsh Verbal Discipline of Children in Past Week

Adverse Childhood Experiences

• Adverse Childhood Experiences, by Number
• Adverse Childhood Experiences, by Type 
• Adverse Childhood Experiences (Caregiver Retrospective), by Number

Positive Childhood Experiences

• Activities With Children in Past Week
• Outdoor Activities With Children in Past Week
• Reading With Children in Past Week
• Daily Opportunities for Children to Have Fun
• Caring Adults Outside of the Home
• People With Whom Children Spent Four or More Hours Weekly Before Pandemic
• People With Whom Children Spent Four or More Hours in Past Week

Caring for Children With Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN)

• Care Provided to Children With Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) in Past Week
• Services Accessed Before Pandemic to Support Children With Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN)
• Services Ever Accessed During Pandemic to Support Children With Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN)
• Services Accessed Currently to Support Children With Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN)
• Positive but Stressful Experiences Helping Children With Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) With Medical Care (California Only)
• Positive and Stressful Experiences Helping Children With Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) With Medical Care, by Type (California Only)
• Feelings of Being Overwhelmed by Demands of Caring for Children With Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) Before Pandemic
• Feelings of Being Overwhelmed by Demands of Caring for Children With Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) During Pandemic
• Change in Feelings of Being Overwhelmed by Demands of Caring for Children With Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) in Past Month

Posted by kidsdata.org

California Children Enrolled in Medi-Cal, by Percent, 2020

The latest data on children’s health care in California are now available on KidsData. The health care topic includes 25 indicators covering health insurance, timely medical care, usual source of health care, prevalence of medical homes, and school-based health centers and services.

Learn more about:

• Health care data. For example, monthly averages in 2020 show that nearly half of children were enrolled in Medi-Cal, establishing it as a critical system for maintaining children’s health in California.
• Why this topic is important. Every child should receive high-quality health care that is accessible, family-centered, culturally competent, coordinated, continuous, compassionate, and comprehensive, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
• How children are faring. For instance, children had access to 291 school health centers in 2021, up from 153 in 2009; 23 of the state’s 58 counties did not have any school health centers in 2021.
• Policy implications that could improve children’s health care. For example, measures that strengthen investment in public insurance programs serving children would help ensure continuous insurance coverage for all children.

Children’s Health Resources

A Medi-Cal Enrollment Update, from the California Department of Health Care Services, reports that about 395,000 children experienced re-enrollment churn, or re-applications after experiencing a break in aid, from July 2019 to June 2020 (see slide 27). Re-enrollment churn may result in gaps of coverage for children. For a national perspective on churn, see “Medicaid Churning and Continuity of Care: Evidence and Policy Considerations Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic” from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“The Impact of the Pandemic on Households With CYSHCN,” a new family snapshot from the American Academy of Pediatrics and partners, suggests that pediatric health care providers might want to inquire about persistent challenges with child development and education, economic stress, and family stress even after the pandemic. These insights are based on questionnaire responses from caregivers raising children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN).

“Counting Little Kids Is a Big Challenge for the U.S. Census,” a Wall Street Journal article, shares evidence and expertise from researchers at PRB and other organizations to show that the most disadvantaged children are least likely to be counted, though they are most in need.

New on KidsData

Our homepage now offers easily accessible links to three KidsData collections—Well-Being During the Pandemic, Safeguards for Youth, and Youth in Schools—as well as to recently released data.

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Build a custom data profile for your region by following these simple steps:

1. On the KidsData website, select the Data by Region tab. Click into a county, city, school district, or legislative district of your choice.
2. Click on the “Create Custom Profile” option near your selected location’s name.
3. Expand the options by clicking on the plus signs, and then select the indicators you want included in your data profile.
4. Click “Submit” to see your custom profile.

Use these profiles to highlight the most important aspects of children’s well-being in your region for reports, advocacy, and community needs assessments.

Recently Released Data

We recently released data about unemployment. See links to the latest here.

Posted by kidsdata.org

Suicide Increased Among Youth Ages 15 to 24 in California and the United States, 1999-2019

The suicide rate for youth in California and the United States was increasing even before COVID-19 entered the picture in 2020. Since then, the pandemic’s extended social isolation and other stressors have presented newly compounding risk factors for suicide along with more common factors such as mental illness, access to lethal means, poor family communication, and exposure to others’ suicidal behavior.

In California, suicide rates for young people ages 15 to 24 increased from 6.9 per 100,000 youth in 2007-2009 to 8.9 per 100,000 youth in 2017-2019, a nearly 30% increase.

In 2019, the number of suicides among California youth differed greatly by age, gender, and race/ethnicity. Counts don’t provide us with information on prevalence as rates do, but the sheer numbers indicate populations that may need greater attention from advocates, policymakers, and us all.

Learn more about youth suicide.

Children’s Health Resources

A new data toolkit, “Utilizing Data to Improve Child Wellbeing Through Community Action,” shares existing data sources and best practices for monitoring child adversity, health, development, and well-being. It includes the Child Well-Being Data Matrix, which identifies 27 data sources that may be useful to collect data about California children.

Suicide Prevention Modules from the Prevention Institute and the Center for Law and Social Policy offer strategies and tools to prevent suicide during periods of major social upheaval.

Posted by kidsdata.org

Change in Race/Ethnicity Discrimination Against Caregivers During the COVID-19 Pandemic, March 2021

Increased racism has been widely reported in the media during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the latest data support those reports. Children may experience racism directly or witness it against their caregivers. Direct and indirect racism impact health, blunt well-being, and undercut health equity—addressing them is fundamental to improving children’s health and well-being.

Caregivers who responded to the questionnaire, Family Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic, compared their experiences of racism before and during the pandemic. In March 2021, nearly one in three caregivers in California who had ever experienced race/ethnicity discrimination reported experiencing increased racism since the pandemic began, while just over half reported no change, and about one in six reported a decrease. Asian caregivers more often reported experiencing an increase in racism during the pandemic compared with all other race/ethnicities (44% compared with 31%).

On the questionnaire from November 2020, a caregiver shared, “Social challenges are the greatest challenge I have faced since [the pandemic began] and I don’t want my child to face racism or discrimination.”

Children’s Health Equity Resources

“The Impact of Racism on Child and Adolescent Health,” a policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics, offers guidance in clinical practice, workforce development, community engagement, and public policy settings to address the effects of racism on children.

The National Institute for Children’s Health Quality compiled resources that address maternal and child health equity.

Do No Harm Guide: Applying Equity Awareness in Data Visualization, a research report from the Urban Institute, provides in-depth guidance on centering equity in data-work and communications.

Recently Released Data

We recently released data about family structure and immigrants. See links to the latest here.

Posted by kidsdata.org

Five-Year Cancer Survival Rate Among California Children Ages 0 to 19 by Race/Ethnicity, 2006-2016

Treatment of childhood cancer, including leukemia and lymphoma, has improved markedly in recent decades, though survivors often need continued specialized care and may have a higher risk of developing other chronic health conditions. Because of the substantial burden of their disease, children battling cancer may also face psychological challenges, low educational attainment, and long-term quality of life issues. Cancer outcomes differ by race/ethnicity as well as other factors such as socioeconomic status and geographic location. Public policy and practices can help ensure equitable access to high-quality care during treatment and beyond.

In California, 83% of children ages 0 to 19 who were diagnosed between 2006 and 2016 were expected to survive cancer for at least five years. However, five-year survival rates varied by race/ethnicity, ranging from 79% for African American/Black children to 85% for White children. Eighty-one percent of Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic/Latino children and 84% of American Indian/Alaska Native children battling cancer survived the disease for at least five years.

Learn more about childhood cancer in California.

Children’s Health Resource

The 2021 Kids Count Data Book by the Annie E. Casey Foundation features state rankings on the overall well-being of children and on specific areas such as education and health.

Posted by kidsdata.org