Data just posted to kidsdata.org show that California’s youth suicide rate declined to its lowest level in more than 10 years. The rate, which was 6.6 suicides in ’07-’09 per 100,000 youth ages 15-24, was about 30% lower than the rate of 9.4 in ’95-’97. In case you missed our recent advisory, view this slideshow for a summary of key data findings on suicide and self-inflicted injuries.

Posted by kidsdata.org

National Adoption Month helps raise awareness about the thousands of children and youth nationwide in the child-welfare system who are awaiting permanent families.

Data show that there were 58,012 children in foster care in California in 2010. And, according to 2009 data, 72% of California’s foster children waited 2 or more years to be adopted into a permanent home.

See more data on foster care children in California>>

See a related Data Points blog post on “Helping Adopted Children Overcome Adversity“

Posted by kidsdata.org

Posted by kidsdata.org

We’ve added a new legislative district overlay tool to maps on kidsdata.org. This tool allows you to see the data you care about, and then overlay legislative district boundaries, to help visualize what’s happening in your district.

How to Overlay Legislative District Boundaries:

1. Find data of your interest on any kidsdata indicator page. Next, select the map tab, and click the “Customize This Map” bar.

2. Next, select your district type (Assembly, State Senate, or U.S. Congressional districts) under “Show Legislative District Boundaries.”

3. Then, select the districts you’d like to see on the map. You can select as many districts as you want, or, click “Check All” to view all districts.

4. Don’t know your district? Hit the “What’s My District?” link. When you’re finished customizing, click the big orange “Submit” button to build your legislative data map.

5. Print your map and take it with you to advocacy or policy meetings.

Posted by Jordan Handcox

A recent analysis of Census data by the Brookings Institution has found a significant increase in the number of suburban households living in poverty.

According to a New York Times article about the analysis, poor populations in suburbs have grown by more than half since 2000. These areas have been hit hard by foreclosures and unemployment, the article notes, and can’t support residents who need the kinds of public services typically only available in urban areas.

On kidsdata.org, we offer poverty data for California school districts, cities and legislative districts, as well as data about students eligible for free/reduced price school meals, which is a proxy measure of poverty. These data encompass all regions in California – urban, suburban, and rural. Additionally, kidsdata.org includes several demographic measures of children in suburban areas, including:

• Child Population
• Households with and without Children
• Family Structure
• Children in the Care of Grandparents
• Foreign-Born Children

You also can find a broader summary of data available for your community by choosing a region here.

Posted by kidsdata.org

	Get customized e-alerts
	Join the conversation
	Find a fact of the day

If you’re reading this blog post, then you already know and like (or perhaps love) kidsdata.org.

Shouldn’t everyone?

After all, kidsdata.org offers free access to hundreds of measures of local child well-being from dozens of reputable data sources. You can find children’s data by age or racial/ethnic group, among other breakdowns, as well as for every city, county, school district, and legislative district in California. The site is an invaluable resource for grant writing, policy making, strategic planning, community assessments, and a host of other important work on behalf of children statewide.

While Kidsdata.org offers easy access to millions of data points we also offer several ways of delivering these data directly to you. Please help spread the word about kidsdata.org by encouraging your friends and colleagues to follow the three steps below. Together, we can ensure that anyone working on behalf of children in California has access to the data they need to improve children’s lives.

1. Sign up for a customized e-mail alert, and we’ll send you an e-mail any time data of interest to you are updated.

2. Follow us on Twitter, where we’re tweeting a daily fact about California kids, as well as timely news and information related to child health issues.

3. ‘Like’ us on Facebook, and share your insights about the data on kidsdata.org and the work you’re doing on behalf of children.

Posted by Felicity Simmons