PRB

The Challenge

Many of the policies that directly affect children and their families are established and enforced by state governments. The KIDS COUNT project is a national and state-by-state effort of the Annie E. Casey Foundation to track the status of children in the United States and provide legislators, child advocates, and other decisionmakers with the data and tools needed to help advance policies that benefit children and their families. PRB’s expertise in providing reliable, high-quality data and analytic guidance, as well as training and technical assistance, supports the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s efforts.

Our Approach

PRB has played an instrumental role in the KIDS COUNT project since 1990. The annual KIDS COUNT Data Book provides a detailed, up-to-date picture of how children are faring in the United States, both nationally and by state. It includes a national profile and state-level rankings across four content domains: 1) Economic Well-Being; 2) Education; 3) Health; and 4) Family and Community.

PRB has been involved in the creation of a series of KIDS COUNT special policy reports, including planning, identifying appropriate indicators, and collecting data. We have also produced more than 150 national- and state-level tables on the well-being of children and families for the KIDS COUNT Data Center.

PRB provides technical assistance to the Annie E. Casey Foundation and to state-level grantees/child advocates to advance the use of reliable data in local and state policy making.

Impact

The reliable data and analytic guidance provided to the Annie E. Casey Foundation helps to ensure that the annual KIDS COUNT Data Book, semi-annual reports, and the KIDS COUNT Data Center are sought-after resources to track the well-being of children and families in the United States.

Our technical assistance efforts increase child advocates’ data and analytic capabilities at the local level and are used to address urgent policy-related questions.