January 2008

2008 Community Assessment: How well are we taking care of our kids?

United Way of King County has just published the 2008 Community Assessment, now available online for the first time, to provide a snapshot of how well local health and human service agencies are meeting our community’s needs. It includes data on all of our impact areas, such as school readiness and ending homelessness, as well as issues that underlie every area of our work, such as poverty and racial equity. It is intended to be a community resource and will be updated regularly.  

A few of the key indicators related to school readiness include:

• There are 146,597 children under 6 living in King County.[1]
• 13% of children under 6 King County live in poverty.[2]
• There are 1,861 licensed child care facilities in King County; 67% of them family child care businesses, 33% of them centers.[3]
• The average age of identification of developmental problems is 1.8 years, often too late to prevent later need for special education. [4]

“A range of issues can affect a child's opportunities,” says Mary Shaw, director of planning for United Way of King County who was in charge of gathering data for the Community Assessment. “A mother’s physical and mental health before and after birth, a family’s financial stability, parenting skills, and the support systems available can all impact a child’s outcomes.” One study found that “a child whose family is $10,000 wealthier over the first 5 years of its life has 2.8 times the chance of graduation from high school than the child in the baseline family.[5] 

Some of the best and promising practices referenced in the Community Assessment include: Born To Learn, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), The Incredible Years, Nurse Family Partnership, Quality Early Childhood Development Programs, and Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters(HIPPY).  

For more information on issues related to early childhood development, such as demographic data, read the 2008 Community Assessment online. Have questions? Want to get involved and make a difference for children in our community? Let us know.

Together we have the ability to change our community
for the better in fundamental, lasting ways.

For more information on why United Way of King County cares so much about kids and what we're doing to promote early learning in our community, visit our web site. If you have specific questions or needs pertaining to early learning, please contact earlylearning@uwkc.org

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