Promoting Equity in Child and Family Outcomes: Using the Race Matters Framework Presenters: Lynette

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Promoting Equity in Child and Family Outcomes
Using the Race Matters FrameworkPresenters
Lynette Aytch Elizabeth Hudgins

• Smart Start National Conference Session
• Tuesday, May 5, 2009
• 130 5pm
• Room Colony A

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Question

• Why was it important for you to show up here
  today?
• What meaning does this issue have for you?
• What do you want to get from this experience?

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How Americans Think About Race

• Historical progress
• Look how far we have comevs
• Look how far we still have to go
• Personal racism
• Racism exists at the individual level and has the
  capacity to go both ways.
• Adapted from Frameworks Institute Framing
  Race www.frameworksinstitute.org/race

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How Americans Think About Race

• Self-making person
• The notion that ones success or failure in life
  is individually constructed.
• Separate fates
• The degree to which minority concerns are
  understood as being disconnected from the shared
  concerns and aspirations of the broader society.
• Adapted from Frameworks Institute Framing
  Race www.frameworksinstitute.org/race

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Propositions for Reframing How Americans Think
About Race

• Opportunity for All
• Equitable access to opportunities that allow
  people to realize a better life
• Opportunity defined as access to societal
  resources and the way systems are set-up to
  distribute resources (i.e., public policy,
  program practices, etc.)
• Prosperity Grid
• Access to institutions/systems that build
  prosperity, create a stronger economy, and
  improve communities (e.g., banks, home/business
  ownership, education institutions, healthcare,
  etc.)
• Ingenuity/Solutions First
• Focus on practical, effective solutions that
  brings to bear collective community/societal
  ingenuity and coordination
• Adapted from Frameworks Institute Framing
  Race www.frameworksinstitute.org/race

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Foundational Assumptions Race Matters Framework

• Race matters almost every indicator of
  well-being shows disparities/disproportionality
  by race.
• Disparities are often created and maintained
  inadvertently through, systems, policies, and
  practices that contain barriers to opportunity.

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Children in Poverty by Race (Percent)
2007Data Provided by National KIDS COUNT
Program
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Infant Mortality by Race (Rate per 1,000)
2005Data Provided by National KIDS COUNT
Program
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Low-Birthweight by Race (Percent) 2005Data
Provided by National KIDS COUNT Program
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People Lacking Health Insurance (Percent) -
2007Data Provided by U.S. Census (Annual
Social and Economic Supplement)
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Foundational Assumptions Race Matters Framework

• It is possible to close equity gaps by using
  strategies determined through an intentional
  focus on race.
• If opportunities in all key areas of well-being
  are equitable, then equitable results will follow.

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Foundational Assumptions Race Matters Framework

• Given the right data, analysis, and tools, people
  will work toward racial equity.

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Different Types of Data (and Their Limitations)

• National
• May not be specific enough for your needs
• State
• May be harder to find and/or data may be old
• Counties and Other Localities
• Can be very hard to find and/or old
• Numbers may be too small to use
• GENERAL CAUTION COMPARE WITH CARE!

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Example Literacy
SOURCE U.S. Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics, National
Household Education Surveys Program (NHES) from
ChildStats, Americas Children, Key National
Indicators of Well-Being
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Hey, I Want That for My State!

• The National Household Education Surveys Program
  (NHES), conducted by the National Center for
  Education Statistics (NCES), collects detailed
  information about education issues through a
  household-based survey using telephone
  interviews.
• The sample for the NHES is drawn from the
  noninstitutionalized civilian population in
  households having a telephone in the 50 States
  and the District of Columbia.
• Generally, each collection covers two topical
  surveys, and researchers conduct between 2,500
  and 25,000 interviews for each survey.
• In addition, the NHES design samples minorities
  at a higher rate than non-minorities to increase
  the reliability of estimates for these groups.

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Sample Size

• National surveys may survey only a few hundred
  people in your state.
• Not all of those will have children.
• Then only subsets of those are any given race or
  ethnicity.
• The smaller you divide down, the less robust
  your sample.

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Example Low Birthweight Babies by State

• http//datacenter.kidscount.org/data/acrossstates/
  Rankings.aspx?ind16
• Get info on line then look for county level
  data of the same thing
• NC info by white/minority OK no

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Compare with Care

• Definitions may vary
• Standards may vary (teen parents, low-income)
• Survey may vary
• Years may vary
• Other variables may be involved

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Example Child Abuse

• Whats a report?
• Whats an investigation?
• Whats substantiated child abuse?
• How small a percentage of the population are we
  talking about?

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Beware Small Numbers

• Small numbers can jeopardize confidentiality
• Small numbers can skew trends

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How To Find the Data?

• Use pre-crunched numbers
• Go to the local source
• Use census data
• Work with local partners
• Ask for it

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Use Pre-crunched Data

• Kids Count Data Center (state and sub-state)
• http//datacenter.kidscount.org
• Population Reference Bureau (state)
• http//www.prb.org/DataFinder.aspx
• State Nonprofit Partners
• Kids Count (www.aecf.org)
• State Fiscal Analysis Initiative
  (http//www.statefiscal.org)

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Use Pre-crunched Data

• Center for Law and Social Policy (information on
  child subsidy policies by state, children of
  immigrants and other topics of possible interest)
  http//www.nwlc.org/display.cfm?sectionchildcare
  
• Child Trends http//www.childtrendsdatabank.org/
  
• ChildStats http//childstats.gov

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Use Pre-crunched Data

• Fedstats http//www.fedstats.gov
• Kaiser State Health Facts http//www.statehealthfa
  cts.org/
• National Womens Law Center (info on child care
  issues) http//www.nwlc.org/display.cfm?sectionch
  ildcare
• Urban Institute http//www.urban.org/people/index.
  cfm (click on people, and then the subgroup of
  interest, such as children, immigrants, race
  etc.)

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Use Census Datawww.census.gov

• American Community Survey
• Current Population Survey
• Public Use Microdata Sample
• Small Area Health Insurance Estimates
• CANNOT COMPARE BETWEEN THESE!

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Example Health Insurance

• Children lacking health insurance in Guilford
  County
• http//datacenter.kidscount.org/
• http//www.census.gov//did/www/sahie/data/2005/tab
  les.html

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Go to the Local Source

• County/state health department
• County/state office of child care
• School district or state department of education
• County/state office of economic
  security/welfare/social services

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Go to the Local Source

• Comprehensive Assessment for Tracking Community
  Health (Google this term your state)
• Office of Minority Health
• Surveys (CA Health Interview Survey, NC Youth
  Civic Survey, etc.)

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Work with Local Partners

• Ask for data make friends of data wonks
• Serve on committees/review teams that all you
  access to confidential data
• Provide research projects for local college
  students

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Ask For It

• Ask state/local agency
• If its not collected, ask that it be collected
• Have someone else ask that it is collected
• Mandate reporting
• Form a review team/study committee, etc

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Tips for Finding and Using Data

• Compare with care
• Beware small numbers
• Dont reinvent the wheel
• Work with local partners
• Start where you can start
• Ask!
• Dig!

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Example Juvenile Justice

• Systems matter
• Cultural competency
• Options suitable for various races/ethnicities
• Criteria for placement
• Accountability matters
• Disaggregated data matters

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Other Resources

• Annie E. Casey (links to Race Matters Toolkit,
  data on children, publications of interest,
  Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative --see
  Pathway 8-- and more)www.aecf.org
• Commonwealth Fund, A State Policy Agenda to
  Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities,
  June 2004 http//www.commonwealthfund.org//media
  /Files/Publications/Fund20Report/2004/Jun/A20Sta
  te20Policy20Agenda20to20Eliminate20Racial20a
  nd20Ethnic20Health20Disparities/McDonough_State
  _Policy_Agenda_Eliminate_Racial20pdf.pdf
• Frameworks Institute (messaging around race
  issues, see in particular Message Brief)
  http//www.frameworksinstitute.org/race.html
• Michigans Advisory Committee on
  Overrepresentation of Children of Color in Child
  Welfare
• http//michigan.michigan.gov/documents/dhs/Eq
  uityReport_182525_7.pdf