Sharing Web Resources III

 

 

The most recent emails from ZERO TO THREE contained the new 2015 State Baby Facts.  Fact sheets are provided for every state and they present infant and toddler data in the framework of good health, strong families, and positive early learning experiences. The goal is provide a snapshot of how babies are doing in each state, to hopefully increase investment in programs that help improve the lives of infants, toddlers, and their families.  The link brought me to the webpage where I was able to look up any State Baby Facts sheets (http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/state-community-policy/infant-and-toddler-state-fact-sheets.html).   

Naturally, I looked up California, the state in which I live in now and Massachusetts, the state that I grew up in.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t too shocked with the research and ranking of California compared to the national average because of our earlier assignment in this course.  It was then that I first learned of the population impacted by poverty and lack of supports available.  Sadly, California ranks fortieth in the well-being of children 0-18 (http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/state-community-policy/baby-facts/california-baby-facts.pdf).  I understand that many factors go into the ranking and that there is still so much that needs to be invested in with support for young children and families but I was pleased to see that Massachusetts ranked number one in the well-being of children 0-18 (http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/state-community-policy/baby-facts/massachusetts-baby-facts.pdf).  The fact sheets are very informative and useful, but I was really impressed with the Toolkit that is available (http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/state-community-policy/baby-facts/related-docs/state-baby-facts-2015-toolkit-final.pdf).  ZERO TO THREE uses the Toolkit to show you how to use the State Baby Facts and ways to support young children through additional resources, social media, email, and writing to a newspaper or submitting a press release.  They give you actual examples of what you could post on social media and letters that you only have to plug in your particular information.  On this page, you also have access to the State of Babies in 2015 and the 2012 State Baby Facts for comparison reasons.  If you follow the link to the State of Babies in 2015 it describes in detail through a sixteen page report the factors that were looked at, and provides maps to show you how the states compare to the national average.  These particular resources that I shared complement the topics in this course and provides an in-depth look at the factors that contribute to the national averages, and how each state compares.  This is definitely a resource that I will use and recommend for other professionals in the field.