Next 10, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to educating the public about state policies and civic engagement in California, has released the updated California Budget Challenge: an interactive, online tool that allows users to allocate the state’s funds as they see fit while also keeping in mind how to finance their decisions.

This year’s budget balancing tool is sleek and easy to navigate, but the challenge itself is a difficult task. With a $15.7 billion starting deficit, the introduction of voter propositions, and the ability to see how your decisions would affect California citizens in real-time, the challenge is much harder than at first glance. This, however, is all part of Next 10’s effort to make the tool resemble the real process of creating the 2012-2013 California state budget.

There are more than 10 sections of the budget that users must work with to make spending and revenue-increasing decisions. Users can analyze four or more options to “cut” or “spend” any section of the budget or, if they prefer, to keep the ongoing policy. A detailed summary about the section, voter propositions, and a “pros and cons” tab helps users weigh their options. Depending on what you choose, a red bar will indicate an increase or decrease to the deficit. Users also can dip into the reserve if they believe all of their decisions are necessary. Not only is this an interesting, fun way to see how balancing our state budget works, but also it is an engaging way to learn more about state policies—what they are, why they are important, and whom they affect.

If users are happy with their final budget, they can choose to send their proposed solutions to California’s elected officials.

Think you’re up for the challenge? Give it a try here.

Posted by Lindsey Nguyen

This week, August 1^st through August 7^th, marks the 20th anniversary of World Breastfeeding Week. Though health organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization support exclusive breastfeeding for at least the first six months of a child’s life to receive the full health benefits, only a little more than half of newborns (56.8%) in California were exclusively breastfed in the hospital after birth, according to 2010 data.

Counties with the highest percentages of exclusively breastfed infants include Trinity County (87.1%), Shasta County (86.7%), and Nevada County (85.6%).

According to 2010 data, 74% of Caucasian/white infants and 67% of multiracial infants in California were breastfed exclusively in the hospital after birth, the highest percentages of all racial/ethnic groups with available data.

Infants who are breastfed receive protection against infections, allergies, and other serious health conditions. In addition, studies have shown that breastfeeding helps mothers in the recovery process post-childbirth, can reduce the risk of breast and ovarian cancer, and may even minimize the chances of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Breastfeeding is not recommended, however, for women who use certain prescription drugs, test positive for HIV, or have active, untreated tuberculosis.

For more information on breastfeeding, please visit the breastfeeding section on kidsdata.org.

Posted by Lindsey Nguyen

As noted in a recent kidsdata advisory, several state policy changes and budget decisions as well as the upholding of the national Affordable Care Act (PPACA) signal potential improvements to California’s foster care system, particularly by extending services for those close to “aging out” of care. As these changes progress, it will be important to monitor access to health insurance and health care for the state’s 56,000 foster children and youth. If Medicaid is extended to all low-income adults, these youth may then have a source of coverage. Alternatively, the State might take its lead from the PPACA and extend Medicaid eligibility to age 26 for children previously covered by that program.

National interest in the health care of children in foster care began to take shape in the early 1980s when newly implemented systematic assessments documented high rates of chronic illness, developmental delays and mental illness, as well as poor access to preventive care for foster children. Toward the end of the decade, the Child Welfare League of America published the first standards for health care for these children.

While the child welfare system has improved over the intervening decades, with more families receiving services to prevent removal of children from their homes, and children returning home earlier, health care remains a significant issue. Rates of special health care needs are high among children who enter foster care, even after controlling for social-demographic factors. Unmet needs are greatest for services that address behavioral health disorders resulting from both the circumstances that led to their being placed in care as well as the impermanence that frequently characterizes care. These services, especially child mental health services, are notoriously unavailable.

The State of California has responded to the complex health needs of foster children in care by excusing them from mandatory enrollment in Medicaid managed care programs, and allowing them to enroll in fee-for-service plans, except in counties that have a county organized health system. Consequently, the majority of California foster children receive their health care through the state’s Medi-Cal program. However, there is no evidence that this approach is advantageous to the children. Their care is often fragmented by the instability of their placements, and many caseworkers lack knowledge about health issues or how to coordinate care within a fee-for-service system. Further, Medi-Cal’s low reimbursement rates severely limit foster children’s access to necessary health care services.

The fragility of foster children, their tenuous legal status and supervision, and the complexity and multiplicity of their health problems call for special attention to their health care by both the child welfare and child health care systems. Typical, busy child health care practices are unlikely to be able to devote adequate time to meet the needs of foster children, so a different model of care is needed. A system that ensures close adherence to recommended preventive measures, along with ongoing coordination of medical, mental health, developmental, educational and social services, is necessary if the long-term health outcomes of foster children and youth are to be improved. Other high-risk children, many of whom receive their care through publicly financed systems such as Medi-Cal, require and would benefit from a similarly integrated, comprehensive and accountable care system. Statewide health care reform for children with special health care needs is needed to assure their optimal health and well-being.

For more information about foster care, including web resources, research, and key reports, see kidsdata.org’s Research & Links section.

Posted by Ed Schor, MD

The Bay Citizen media outlet has created an interactive data tool showing immunization rates among Bay Area schoolchildren in 2010-2011.

The data include enrolled kindergarten students from public and private schools. Users can scan the data by county, city, school district, or even individual elementary schools.

Immunizations are important for the protection of the individual child as well as for public health, as they help children avoid contracting numerous serious and potentially fatal infectious diseases. However, not all children are immunized. According to kidsdata.org, about 1 in 10 kindergarteners in California had not obtained all required immunizations in 2010.

According to the Bay Citizen’s immunization tool, some Bay Area kindergarteners were either in the process of receiving their immunizations (6.34% in 2010-11) or their parents had cited personal beliefs as reasons for not obtaining immunizations for their child (2.16%).

Find data for Bay Area counties, cities, school districts, and schools.

Also see:

• California kindergarteners with all required immunizations in 2010, by county
• More information about why this topic is important, related policy implications, research, and key reports.

Posted by Lindsey Nguyen

Unintentional injuries/accidents are the leading cause of death among children ages 1 to 14, so it is worth noting that June is National Safety Month, which promotes awareness about preventable injuries and deaths.

In California, from 2007-2009 more deaths per 100,000 children ages 1-4 and 5-14 were due to unintentional injuries than to cancer, birth defects, or homicide, according to www.kidsdata.org. In 2009, 23,449 children ages 0-20 in California were hospitalized because of unintentional injuries.

Help to ensure your child stays safe this summer by following these simple tips:

Make sure your child wears a helmet when riding a bike, and that the helmet fits well enough not to rock from side to side during riding. When your child is on the playground, be mindful of clothing that can easily get caught in equipment or cause an unintentional fall (e.g., untied shoelaces, drawstrings on jackets, etc.). And be prepared by making and carrying a first aid kit.

Find more tips on child safety for both outdoor and indoor activities.

See related data on kidsdata.org:

• Leading Cause of Children’s Deaths Ages 1-4
• Leading Cause of Children’s Deaths Ages 5-14
• Number of Injury Hospitalizations, by Age and Cause
• Unintentional Injury Hospitalizations Rate, by Age

Posted by Lindsey Nguyen

Following are some recent news highlights about children and families, along with related data from kidsdata.org:

Health Care (see related data):

• Proposed Changes in Healthy Family Insurance Program Put Low-Income Children from Rural Counties At Risk
  (Huffington Post, 5/29/12, by Snyder)
• Medi-Cal Managed Care Dental Program Provides Sub-Par Service to Low-Income Children
  (Sac Bee, 5/29/12, by Bazar)
• Survey: Medi-Cal Gets High Marks in General, But Enrollees with Disabilities, Poorer Health Report Less Favorable Experiences
  (SF Chronicle, 5/31/12, by Colliver)

Teen Health (see related data):

• Study: Low-Fiber Diet May Raise Teens’ Risk for Heart Disease, Diabetes
  (U.S. News, 6/5/12)
• CDC: Teen Suicide Attempts Increased from 2009 to 2011
  (Fox, 6/8/12)
• Percentage of U.S. Teens Diagnosed with Kidney Stones Has Steadily Increased, Study Shows
  (Reuters, 6/8/12, by Norton)

Childhood Cancer (see related data):

• Study: Leukemia Deadlier for Teens and Young Adults than Younger Kids
  (Yahoo, 6/4/12)

• Pediatric Cancer Genome Project Explores Connection Between DNA and Childhood Cancers
  (Time, 5/30/12, by Park)

• Girls at Greater Risk for Early Breast Cancer After Chest Radiation for Cancer Treatment, Study Shows
  (Yahoo, 6/4/12)

• Study: Cancer Rates Go Up Among Children, While Survival Rates Improve
  (Bay Citizen, 6/11/12, by Jewett)

Posted by kidsdata.org

On May 9, citing concerns over cost and privacy, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of eliminating all funding for the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS). The social, economic, and housing questions in the ACS, which formerly were asked as part of the “long-form” decennial census, are administered annually to a smaller sample of Americans, providing continually updated data in the 10 years between censuses. De-funding the ACS would eliminate the only existing source of objective, consistent, comprehensive, and recent information about the nation’s social, economic, and demographic characteristics for every community (down to the neighborhood level) in the United States.

Experts note that eliminating the ACS would hinder data-driven decision making in both the public and private sectors. According to a 2010 report by Andrew Reamer of the Brookings Institution, the federal government allocates more than $400 billion annually in program funds to state and local governments based in whole or in part on ACS data. Private businesses consult ACS data when deciding where to locate and expand, what goods and services to offer, employee training needs, and long-term investment opportunities, as reported by Matthew Phillips of Bloomberg Business Week. Non-profit organizations also use the ACS to guide service planning and evaluate how well their programs are working. All these entities would have to find other, less comprehensive and less recent data sources upon which to make decisions.

As a compromise, backers of de-funding may advocate making the ACS voluntary in future years. However, this would significantly reduce the quality of the data and it would cost the government more money to ensure accurate results.

A House-Senate conference will decide the fate of the ACS later this year.

For more information, please contact Phil Sparks ([email protected]) at The Census Project.

Posted by kidsdata.org

Special Health Care Needs (see related data)

• Study: Fever During Pregnancy Linked to Autism Diagnosis in Child
  (LA Times, 5/23/12, by Healy)
• Many Infants with Developmental Delays May Go Untreated, Study Shows
  (Chicago Tribune, 5/22/12, by Grens)

• Article Explores Major Hurdles for Latino Parents with Autistic Children
  (New America Media, 5/23/12, by Castillo)
• Health Care Costs Place Financial, Emotional Strains on Families of Children with Chronic Illness
  (CNN, 5/21/12, by Landau)
• Nearly 1 in 4 U.S. Teens Has Diabetes or Its Precursor, Research Shows; Much Higher Percentage than in 2008
  (Time, 5/21/12, by Rochman)

Family Structure (see related data)

• Census Shows More U.S. Children Live with Relatives, Friends
  (Reuters, 5/23/12, by Heavey)

Pregnancy (see related data)

• Babies Delivered by C-Section Are Twice as Likely to Be Obese by Age 3, Study Shows
  (Time, 5/24/12, by Park)
• Study: High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy Linked to High Blood Pressure in Child
  (U.S. News, 5/25/12, by Reinberg)
• Healthy Dieting in Pregnancy Improves Outcomes for Mother and Child, Study Shows
  (U.S. News, 5/18/12)
• Obesity During Pregnancy Strongest Predictor of Heavier Babies, Study Shows
  (Fox, 5/23/12, by Rettner)
• Caucasian Mothers More Likely to Smoke Cigarettes While Pregnant, Study Shows
  (Web MD, 5/10/12, by Nierenberg)

Posted by kidsdata.org

On June 5 and 6, data mavens will have the opportunity to explore innovative applications of health and health care data at the Datapalooza in Washington, DC. Here’s a chance to see demonstrations of cutting-edge apps; listen to experts in health care, technology and policy; and network with VCs, funders, policy makers, and potential partners.

The event is hosted by The Health Data Initiative, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, among many others.
To take advantage of the discounted registration rate of $50 for government, nonprofit, and academic employees, visit the additional information and registration page.

Posted by kidsdata.org

May 6 through May 12 is National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week, a time to focus on the emotional and behavioral health of children, as well as on the long-term effects of poor child mental health, such as depression and suicide.

In a 2010 survey, California parents from low-income households were more likely than higher-income parents to rate their child’s emotional health as very poor, poor, or fair.

Depression can diminish the quality of a young person’s life, resulting in fewer friends, less social support, greater stress, and lower academic achievement. Evidence suggests that in adolescence, depression and suicidal behavior are linked. Depression also is linked to exacerbation of chronic illnesses such as asthma and diabetes.

See related data on kisdata.org:

• Parents’ perception of behavioral and emotional health>>
• Suicide and self-inflicted injury>>
• Depression-related feelings>>

Posted by Stacey Angeles