Did you know that the newly-renovated KIDS COUNT Data Center makes it easy to develop a profile of your county that includes a wide range of indicators for child well-being? I’ve fielded several calls in the past month from advocates who are looking for information about a specific county, and they have been surprised and excited to find out how easy it is to develop a profile using the KIDS COUNT Data Center.
  
Here is how you can develop a profile for your county to use in your own advocacy:

• First, go to the KIDS COUNT Data Center. This site is a treasure trove of information on child well-being that is maintained jointly by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and local KIDS COUNT organizations in each state. Wisconsin Council on Children and Families (that’s us!) is the KIDS COUNT organization for Wisconsin, so some of the information you see is data that WCCF uploaded to the site.
• Choose Wisconsin for your state. So far this is pretty straightforward, right?
• Now, click on where it says “build a custom indicator report for your community.” I’ve circled that in the image below.

• A pop-up menu comes up that lets you select the community you are interested in. Let’s say you are looking for information for Eau Claire County. Making sure that “Wisconsin” is selected as the state, choose the “by county” option, and scroll down to select Eau Claire. Then hit next.
• Now is the part of the process that allows you to select the indicators that will appear on the report. For now, just go ahead and check the box that says “View all indicators,” so you get the broadest possible report. You can always make another report later with fewer indicators if you want. Hit the “Create Report” button.

Voila! Now you have a report that shows you information on how children are doing in Eau Claire County. The report includes indicators on demographics, economic well-being, education, health, child safety, and family and community status.

Now that you have a custom report for your county, you can use it in your own advocacy, service planning, or grant writing. Keep in mind that if you were hoping to find information for a particular indicator of child well-being but don’t see it on the KIDS COUNT Data Center, you can call WCCF at (608) 284-0580. We may be able to get the information for you, or at least point you in the right direction.

Happy advocating!

Tamarine Cornelius