Voices’ Blog

Data Center Make Over

Posted:  -  By: S. Beth Nolan

Did you know there are over 200 indicators on child well-being in Virginia’s KIDS COUNT Data Center? Nearly 40 of those indicators are provided at the locality (county and/or city level). This means you can look at how the county or city you live in compares to others in Virginia on topics such as child economic well-being, education, health, and foster care. Use the left hand column on the home page to refine your search by county and topic.

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Voices works year-round to maintain this data and provide the most available and up-to-date so you know how children are faring in Virginia. We’ve spent the last several months doing a deep dive and looking at the data we make available to you.

Now you can go to our Data Center and find out just how many children live below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) at 200%, 100%, and 50%. You can even see what percent of children who live in poverty, live in deep poverty (below 50% FPL).

Why does data matter? Data = understanding. Data allows us to advocate for children using evidence-based decision making. It helps us see the gaps in services, and which programs help to lift children and families out of poverty.

So check out our Data Center and see how children in your area are faring. While you’re at it, take a look at Voices’ Data Page on our website to see what publications are available that might be useful in your own work.

And, keep an eye out. Voices is still refining and updating the indicators it tracks, and will have updated locality-level infographics in the coming months.

If you have questions or need data, reach out to Beth Nolan, Voices’ KIDS COUNT Director, for assistance.

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