This guide provides brief descriptions of the ever-increasing number of data and information resources available to those who work in the child and youth indicators field. It is a resource useful to the novice and the veteran, to those who work in governance, advocacy, research, and the media. Items covered include: books, journals, and other…

Over the last decade the power of states to develop more effective policies and programs to improve the well-being of children has been substantially strengthened by the increasing availability of high quality child well-being indicator data at the state level. Much of these data have been developed by or under the guidance of federal statistical…

Shifting to results-based accountability is a difficult stage in reforming family and children's services. Heretofore, these services have been more concerned with the number of clients seen or papers processed than in their clients' quality of life. This document should help communities find the data they need to measure qualitative outcomes. It…

The last few years have seen a growing interest in comparative international research on children and youth and in the development of internationally comparable indicators of well-being. This paper provides an overview of 13 international surveys that can be used to support such work. In addition to a basic description of the survey, each overview…

The upcoming reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant is prompting closer scrutiny of how families affected by the law are faring. This research brief examines teen employment in the context of welfare reform, drawing on data from the National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) to describe employment…

This brief examines state-level data on social, economic, and child well-being measures at the outset of welfare reform, highlighting 13 states being studied in-depth. The National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) reveals that social and economic conditions relevant to welfare reform are quite diverse among the 13 states. State differences in…

During the 1990s, an increasing number of states have become interested in social indicators as basic tools of governance. Many states have been working aggressively to develop programs and initiatives that make systematic use of social indicators, and to develop the underlying data system to measure and track such indicators. This report reviews…

This is the fourth edition of an annual report on trends in the well-being of America's children and youth. Part 1 of the report describes national trends for over 90 indicators of child and youth well-being based on data collected by the federal government. The information provided for each indicator includes one or more tables documenting recent…