For the first time, Louisiana families, policymakers and advocates have a central easily accessible website to track numerous indicators for children’s well-being. These indications may include health outcomes, educational progress, and poverty level. The website enables the public to see how the State compares nationally and to determine if progress is being made.
Typically, these indicators were tracked by different state agencies that have children’s programs and services. Now there is a central location to monitor children’s well-being and Louisiana’s progress at addressing these indicators.
Five State agencies led by the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet has combined their data to create the “Louisiana Kids’ Dashboard” available at www.kidsdashboard.la.gov. The dashboard shows 16 indicators with each indicator showing the baseline, current and target levels, and trends to indicate if the state is doing better, worse, or the same as the baseline for that indicator.
The indicators are tracked through the Department of Children and Family Services, Department of Education, Department of Health and Hospitals, Louisiana Workforce Commission, and the Office of Juvenile Justice.
The Department of Health and Hospitals Kids’Dashboard indicators measure low birth-weight babies, childhood obesity, immunizations for children 19-35 months and for 13 to 17 years, and asthma-related hospitalizations.
The Dashboard will be updated on a regular basis and will contain social media links so residents can follow the dashboard on Facebook and Twitter. The goal in future years is to add other significant indicators.
