Definition:
A description of the indicator and what it measures.
Significance: The
relationship of the indicator to child and family well-being.
Sidebars: Current state
and national data and information related to the indicator.
City/Town Tables: Data
for each indicator presented for each of Rhode Island's cities and towns, the state as a
whole, and the core cities.
Core Cities Data: Five
core cities are identified based on high child poverty rates. Providence, Pawtucket,
Woonsocket, Newport and Central Falls. These are the only Rhode Island communities in
which more than 15% of the children live below the poverty level, according to the 1990
Census.
Comparison Data:
City/town tables show current data compared to earlier data from the 1996 Factbook,
whenever possible.
Most Recent Available Data:
The 1997 Factbook uses the most current, reliable data available for each indicator.
New Indicators: Four
new indicators have been added to the twenty-three indicators included in the 1996
Rhode Island KIDS COUNT Factbook, "Alcohol, Drugs, and Cigarette Use by
Teens" and "Homeless Children" were added. "Children Receiving Public
Assistance" has been replaced by two Indicators, "Children receiving AFDC"
and "Children Receiving Food Stamps".
The 1997 Rhode Island KIDS COUNT Factbook presents the data for each indicator using numbers, rates, and/or percentages.
Numbers
The most direct measure of the scope of a problem is the count of the number of events of concern during a specified time period, e.g. the number of child deaths between 1989 and 1993.
Numbers are important in assessing the scope of the problem and in estimating the resources required to address a problem. Numbers are not useful to compare the severity of the problem from one geographic area to another or to compare the extent of the problem in your state with national standards. For example, a state with more children might have more low birthweight infants due to the larger number of total births, not due to an increased likelihood of being born low birthweight.
Rate and Percentages
A rate is a measure of the probability of an event, e.g. out of every 1,000 live births, how many infants will die before their first birthday?
A percentage is another measure of the probability of an event, e.g. out of every 100 births, how many will be born low birthweight?
Rates and percentages take into account the total population of children eligible for an event. They are useful in comparing the severity of the problem from one geographic area to another, to compare with state or national standards, or to look at trends over time.
Sources of Data and Methodology for Calculating Rates and Percentages
For each indicator, the source of information for the actual number of events of interest (the "numerator") are identified within the Source of Data/Methodology section next to the table for that indicator. For each indicator that uses a rate or a percent, the methodology used to estimate the total number of children eligible for the indicator of interest (i.e. the "denominator") is also noted within the Source of Data/Methodology section.
Rates and percentages were not calculated for cities and towns with small denominators (less than 500 for delayed prenatal care, low birthweight infants, and infant mortality rates and less than 100 for births to teens). Rates and percentages for small denominators are statistically unreliable."NA" is noted in the indicator table when this occurs. In the indicator for child deaths and teen deaths, the indicator events are rare; in these instances, city and town rates are not calculated, as small numbers make these rates statistically unreliable.
Limitations
In any data collection process there are always concerns about the accuracy and completeness of the data being collected. All data used in the 26 indicators were collected through the U.S. Bureau of the Census and through routine data collection systems operated by different agencies of the state of Rhode Island. We do not have estimates of the completeness of reporting to these systems.
In all cases, we have used the most reliable data currently available. For census-based indicators, statewide numbers have been updated to 1994 using the Current Population Survey, 1992-1996 average. The Current Population Survey does not provide data at the level of city and town. City/town tables, therefore, use information from the 1990 Census of Population.
We expect that over time data used to assess child well-being in Rhode Island will be more timely and will contain more complete information on the state's racial and ethnic communities than is currently available.