Chief
Executive Officer Alana M. Sweeny, New
York State Council on Children and Families, today announced a new state
website that provides a wide range of data on the health, education and
well-being of New York’s children and families.
KWIC
– the Kids’ Well-Being Indicator Clearinghouse – will allow human services
providers, child advocates, educators, researchers, grant applicants, planners
and others to quickly and conveniently access and sort data tailored to
accommodate their needs. The publicly accessible, interactive website, found at http://www.nyskwic.org/,
was developed by the Council with funding from the New York State Office for
Technology.
"This
new data warehouse will help gather, plot and monitor information on children's
health, education and well-being," Sweeny said. "It is a valuable
resource for individuals and organizations with diverse missions, working to
improve outcomes for the state’s children and families."
Data
is included for New York State, New York City, Rest of State, and each of the 62
counties. KWIC users have the ability to
create custom profiles, selecting specific regions, indicators and time periods.
KWIC also provides demographic data from
the U.S. Census for each county and region of New York State to help users
understand the characteristics of the people behind the data.
Users
can click on "Access Data" and choose a profile option. By visiting
"Understanding Data," they can review data sources, data and
demographic terms, and a glossary. The information can be presented in a variety
of formats, including graphs and charts.
Until
now, the type of data available in KWIC
had only been available in the New York State Touchstones/Kids Count data books,
produced by the Council with funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids
Count Initiative.
The
Council was established in 1977 to improve and strengthen services to children
and families provided at the state and local levels by public and private
organizations. It provides a neutral forum for the identification and resolution
of issues that require policy planning and analysis within an interagency
framework. The Council is comprised of the commissioners or directors of the
state’s 13 health, education and human services agencies.
Sweeny
said, "There has always been a tremendous demand for data that highlights
the status of New York’s children and families. The data book has allowed us
to disseminate this information statewide to a broad range of individuals and
organizations. While data books will continue to be produced and play an
important role in highlighting the status of children and families, KWIC’s
state-of-the-art technology expands access to New York State children’s
health, education and well-being data; provides more current data; expands the
number of indicators; provides access to other data resources; allows users to
chart and graph data; and gives users the ability to tailor data to fit their
needs."
KWIC
has been identified as one of New York State’s top 75 e-Commerce/e-Government
initiatives, which are breaking down barriers for citizens doing business with
state government. These initiatives allow citizens to conduct business and
access information without having to know which agency handles each type of
transaction.
Under
Governor George E. Pataki’s leadership and direction, state agencies have been
expanding use of the Internet so that citizens can have access to government
information and conduct business transactions 24 hours a day, seven days a week,
at their convenience.