July/August 2014Vol. 15, No. 7Examining Economic and Social Data Across Ethnic Groups
A new policy report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF), Race for Results: Building a Path to Opportunity for All Children, explores the intersection of children, race, and opportunity. The report features the new Race for Results index, which compares how children are progressing on key milestones across racial and ethnic groups at the national and State level.
The new Race for Results index expands on previous KIDS COUNT reports that asserted that where a child's family is from and where they live profoundly affect life outcomes of that child. This index is based on 12 indicators that measure a child's success in each stage of life, from birth to adulthood, in the areas of early childhood, education and early work, family supports, and neighborhood context. The index also compares data for those indicators across the African-American, Latino, American Indian, and Asian/Pacific Islander communities. The data are further broken down to compare results among specific Tribes of American Indians and subgroups of Asian-American children.
The results show that many children of color face profound barriers to success. Based on these results, the report makes four policy recommendations to help improve outcomes for these children and their families:
- Gather and analyze racial and ethnic data to inform all phases of programs, policies, and decision-making
- Use data and impact assessment tools to target investments to yield the greatest impact for children of color
- Develop and implement promising and evidence-based programs and practices focused on improving outcomes for children and youth of color
- Integrate economic inclusion strategies within economic and workforce development efforts
The full report, a related report detailing the index methodology, and a link to the data in the KIDS COUNT Data Center for the 12 indicators by State and racial group are available on the AECF website:
http://www.aecf.org/KnowledgeCenter/Publications.aspx?pubguid=%7b5B863B11-62C7-41EC-9F7F-6D12125C4DC2%7d
Related Items
Children's Bureau Express has featured a number of articles on the AECF KIDS COUNT reports:
- "Helping Young Children Succeed" (February 2014)
- "2013 KIDS COUNT Data Book" (September 2013)
- "2012 KIDS COUNT Data Book" (October 2012)
- "Data on Child Well-Being in America" (November 2011)