Rural Childrens Health and WellBeing: Discussion of Data Themes

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Rural Childrens Health and Well-BeingDiscussion
of Data Themes

• Rural Collaborative Forum
• October 29, 2003
• Omaha, NE

Richard Rathge, Ph.D. Director, North Dakota KIDS
COUNT!
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Overview 3 Main Topics

• Data Themes Used in Existing Publications
• Data Themes Uncovered by Rural Initiatives
• Availability of Data for Rural Themes

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DATA THEMES Used in Existing Publications

• Existing data found in National Kids Count Data
  Book and Children at Risk publications
• 7 main themes identifying childrens health and
  well-being

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7 Existing Themes

• Demographic
• Economic Conditions of Families
• Child Health
• Neighborhood Characteristics
• Technology/Isolation
• Education
• Reducing the Cost of Being Poor

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A. Existing Theme Demographic

• Urban vs. Rural

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B. Existing Theme Economic Conditions of Families

• Median income
• Extreme poverty
• Female-headed families receiving child support
• Children under 6 in paid child care
• Children living in families where parent has
  full-time, year-round work
• Children in poverty
• Children living in single
• parent homes

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C. Existing Theme Child Health

• Children without health insurance
• Immunization (at 2 years of age)
• Low birthweight
• Infant mortality
• Child death rate
• Teen death rate

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D. Existing Theme Neighborhood Characteristics

• High poverty
• High rates of males not in labor force
• High rates of female-headed families
• High rates of high school dropouts

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E. Existing Theme Technology/Isolation

• Children without internet access
• Children without a telephone
• Children without a vehicle

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F. Existing Theme Education

• 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled in school (nursery,
  preschool, kindergarten)
• Fourth grade students scoring below basic science
  level
• Percent of teens who are dropouts
• Percent of teens not attending
• school and not working

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G. Existing Theme Reducing the Cost of Being Poor

• Households receiving Earned Income Tax Credit
• Average Earned Income Tax Credit
• Households eligible for Food Stamps, but not
  receiving them
• Low-income households
• where housing costs
• exceed 30 percent of
• their income

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DATA THEMES Uncovered by Rural Initiatives

• Data themes uncovered in focus groups with rural
  families
• 6 main themes reflecting issues rural families
  identify as important to the health and
  well-being of their children

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6 Rural Themes

• Activities
• Child Care
• Transportation
• Medical
• Employment
• Environment

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A. Rural Theme Activities

• Availability of youth activities
• Availability of after-school programs
• Availability of community centers
• Opportunities for special needs children

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B. Rural Theme Child Care

• Availability
• Affordability
• Reliability
• Flexibility

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C. Rural Theme Transportation

• Commuting distance
• Available public transportation

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D. Rural Theme Medical

• Accessibility
• Affordability
• Available specialty areas

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E. Rural Theme Employment

• Low wages
• Multiple jobholders

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F. Rural Theme Environment

• Availability of facilities (e.g., shopping,
  repair, banks)
• Prevalence of illegal drugs
• Connectedness (e.g., religious participation)

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Do themes used in existing publications and those
uncovered during rural focus groups match?
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Comparison of DATA THEMES

• Existing Publications
• Demographic
• Economic Conditions of Families
• Child Health
• Neighborhood Characteristics
• Technology/Isolation
• Education
• Reducing the Cost of Being Poor

• Rural (focus groups)
• Activities
• Child Care
• Transportation
• Medical
• Employment
• Environment

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AVAILABILITY OF DATA for Rural Themes

• Are there data out there now for rural data
  themes?

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Availability of Data Activities

• Measure 1 Availability of Youth Activities
• Source National Center for Education Statistics
• Limitation No state or county data (national
  only)
• Suggestion NCES could increase sample size to
  include at least statewide data

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Availability of Data Activities

• Are there data available for
• Measure 2 Availability of After-School Programs?
• Measure 3 Availability of Community Centers?
• Measure 4 Special Needs Children?

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Availability of Data Child Care

• Measure 1 Availability of Child Care
• Source Administration for Children and Families
• Limitation No county data
• Suggestion

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Availability of Data Child Care

• Are there data available for
• Measure 2 Affordability?
• Measure 3 Reliability?
• Measure 4 Flexibility?

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Availability of Data Transportation

• Measure 1 Commuting Distance
• Source American Factfinder
• Limitation No family characteristic data
• Suggestion Encourage Census Bureau to run
  special tabulations

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Availability of Data Transportation

• Are there data available for
• Measure 2 Available Public Transportation?

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Availability of Data Medical

• Measure 1 Accessibility
• Source Health Resources and Services
  Administration
• Limitation No family characteristic data
• Suggestion

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Availability of Data Medical

• Are there data available for
• Measure 2 Affordability?
• Measure 3 Available Specialty Areas?

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Availability of Data Employment

• Measure 1 Low Wages
• Source Bureau of Economic Analysis
• Average wage per job (BLS wage by occupation)
• Measure 2 Multiple jobholders
• Source Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Limitation No county data, no family
  characteristic data
• Suggestion Family characteristic
• data may be possible with special
• tabulations

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Availability of Data Environment

• Are there data available for
• Measure 1 Availability of Facilities?
• Measure 2 Prevalence of Illegal Drugs?
• Measure 3 Connectedness?

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The goal is to create an action agenda that

• Verifies the appropriateness of rural themes from
  focus groups
• Determines priorities
• Creates short-term and long-term goals

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North Dakota KIDS COUNT!P.O. Box 5636Fargo, ND
58105(701) 231-5931
http//www.ndkidscount.org