Data Resource Toolkit

Learn More About Data Utilization

Over the past several years, community groups, policymakers, reporters. students, researchers, and advocates requested CDF-Ohio’s assistance in data and research. This toolkit is intended to be an introduction on how to use data, be a responsible consumer of it, and use data in a way that builds greater equity in our communications, research, policy development, and advocacy day to day.

Data Analysis >Data Methodology >Data Understanding: Unfamiliar with how to start using data? Here’s a comprehensive look at the importance of data usage and techniques to remember when using data.

Importance of Examining Data with a Racial Equity Lens

Applying Racial Equity Awareness in Data Visualization: A deep dive covering the importance of communicating data and information that reflects the diversity of America’s communities. Our language, data labels, colors and icons should bring awareness to racial equity within produced data visuals.

A Toolkit for Centering Racial Equity within Data Integration: Developed by the Annie E. Casey foundation, a toolkit that aims to support data sharing and integration centering racial equity and community voice within the context of data. It includes a larger historical, social and political context for data infrastructure.

KIDS COUNT

KIDS COUNT County Profiles: A comprehensive snapshot of state, regional, county and district level data in Ohio that measure whole child well-being. There are sixteen indicators categorized into five domains: education, health care, homes and communities, safety and finances.

KIDS COUNT Data Center: A premier source of data as a project of the Anne E. Casey Foundation that produces measures on children and families at the state, county and national level. Access to the KIDS COUNT Data Book can also be found that describes how children across the United States were faring before- and during- the coronavirus pandemic.

Child Welfare

ODJFS Data and Children Services Dashboard: Ohio Department of Job and Family Services oversees program implementation by developing policies and procedures to guide county agencies in program and service delivery. An interactive dashboard that displays by county children that are in care, outcomes for children abused or neglected, related summaries for adopted children and much more.

PCSAO Factbook: The Factbook is a premiere data source for county-by-county data on Ohio’s children services agencies that give insight to the safety and stability of children and families. Information pertaining to permanency, emancipated youth, children in custody and the services they receive.

Education

Ohio Department of Education (ODE): Report Cards designed to give insight into the performance of districts and schools. Information can be accessed through the state report card, download data portal and advanced reports from the dropdown menu (located in the top right corner with the ≡ symbol). Public data related to graduation rates, student attendance, disciplinary incidents, and college and career readiness.

OHYES! Reports: Summaries designed to provide actionable data for district superintendents and school principals based on a voluntary sample of surveyed youth. The OHYES! report address the need for data on local trends in youth behaviors and risk and protective factors such as mental health; family, school and community environment; health and wellbeing.

Health

Medicaid Demographic and Expenditure Dashboard: Expenditure information provided by the Department of Medicaid to inform who is served by county and month. Further information can be narrowed down by gender, age category, program and plan type and race/ethnicity.

Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Public Information Warehouse: A self-service online tool to obtain the most recent public health data including, birth resident, low-birth children, methods of delivery, infant mortality by county, and population data. Through this portal the OHYES! Ohio Healthy Youth Environment Survey can be found.

Ohio Medicaid Assessment Survey (OMAS): Data-driven view of Ohio’s clinical health care, insurance status, chronic and acute conditions, mental health, and health status stressors such as poverty, joblessness, and low socioeconomic status. The dashboard compares year over year estimates for insurance, health status, health behavior, unmet needs, economic stress, demographics and other indicators.

Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS): Monitorization of behaviors established during early childhood and adolescence that contribute to the leading causes of death, disability, and social problems among youth and adults in the United States. Reports and factsheets can be compared by state and nationally for middle and high school data.

National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH): National, regional and state data for children’s physical and mental health, access to quality health care, and the child’s family, neighborhood, school, and social context. Surveys can be downloaded to view child and family health measures as well as national performance and outcomes for maternal and child health services.

March of Dimes Peristats: The Perinatal Data Center provides access to maternal and infant health data for the United States and by state or region, including more than 60,000 graphs, maps, and tables.

Family and Community

US Census Household Pulse Survey: Bi-weekly produced data on the social and economic effects of coronavirus on American households. An interactive dashboard can be utilized to view estimates of how households are doing in education, employment, food sufficiency and security, health and housing. Disseminated data can be filtered by state and metro areas to inform federal policy and state response and recovery planning.

American Community Survey (ACS): Detailed source of data for population and housing information produced on a yearly basis. Data tables can be accessed for social, economic, housing and demographic characteristics including but not limited to disability status, income and earnings, poverty status, bandwidth capacity, and age.

Nutrition

State of Childhood Obesity: National childhood and adult obesity rates that feature trends overtime for statewide and nationally disaggregated data by age, sex, and race and ethnicity. Information is pulled from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the National Survey of Children’s Health, the WIC Participant and Program Characteristics, and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

Feeding America Food Insecurity in the US: An annual Map the Meal Gap study to improve understanding of food insecurity and food costs at the local level. Interactive maps and issue briefs can be accessed for states, counties, and food banks for estimated food insecurity rates.

The USDA Food and Nutrition Service: The program data area of the website includes tables with state and congressional district level detail on its programs including SNAP, WIC, National School Lunch and more.

Public Assistance Monthly Statistics Report (PAMS): A summary of data reported monthly for Ohio Works First (OWF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC). Information pertaining to recipients, assistance and expenditures can be found by county and statewide.