U.S. Pediatric Public Health & ECE Infrastructure

Introduction

Local health departments (LHDs) are dedicated to protecting the health of our communities, including our youngest members. By partnering with early care and education (ECE) professionals, LHDs can significantly enhance the well-being of young children. However, identifying where to focus health promotion efforts can be challenging without the right data.

Mapping is a powerful tool for health promotion planning. The below Geographic Information Systems (GIS) map displays measures of child opportunity and equity, locations of child care facilities, and local health department service areas. By visualizing this information together, we can make data-driven decisions that improve the health and well-being of children. This helps LHDs and ECE identify “high priority” communities of focus for programs and resource allocation.

A census tract is approximately the size of a neighborhood. See our Technical Notes below for more.

"High priority" areas may refer to areas that have been systematically disenfranchised due to decades of inequitable policies and practices such as redlining, Jim Crow laws, and the withdrawal of industry from working communities around the nation. These areas often exhibit low public health presence, characterized by low vaccine uptake and higher rates of comorbidities. For young children, this often translates to limited access to quality education, healthcare, nutritious food, safe play environments, and early care and education programs. Focused efforts are needed to address and rectify these longstanding disparities. Local practitioners should use the data presented here along with local context and knowledge to identify these spaces.

Map Dashboard

Click on the map dashboard below to view and interact with all the data presented in the story map. This map dashboard allows you to switch layers on and off and provides descriptions in the pop-ups. Click the export icon in the upper right corner to open the map dashboard in a new tab. Scroll below the map for more details on each layer included in the map dashboard.

United States Pediatric Public Health & Early Care & Education Infrastructure

You can explore all of our maps featured below by:

Zooming in – Zoom in on an area by double-clicking on a point on the map, or by using the “+” and “-“ buttons on the lower right-hand of your screen.

Moving the map – Click and hold an area of the map to move the map around and zoom in on different areas.

Viewing the legend -- Click on the layer list icon at the bottom left corner of each map featured in the story map.

Child Opportunity Index

The  Child Opportunity Index  (COI) 3.0 measures the quality of neighborhood resources and conditions that are essential for children's health and development. The index includes indicators in three domains: education, health and environment, and social and economic factors. This version of the COI allows for comparisons across states and the nation by using statistically validated indicators of child outcomes. Child opportunity levels are presented at the census tract level, which is approximately the size of a neighborhood.

Viewing the COI at the census tract level can help to identify and prioritize children's health efforts at the local level. This can enhance administrative focus and justify public health funding for health officials and child care providers in low opportunity areas, which, in turn, helps address inequity within local health departments' service delivery areas.

Social Vulnerability Index

The Social Vulnerability Index is a spatial dataset created by  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)  ’s  Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) . Social vulnerability refers to the potential negative impact of external stresses on human health, such as natural or human-caused disasters or disease outbreaks. The SVI comprises data representing 15 social factors from the U.S. Census, including food access, socioeconomic status, household composition, housing/transportation, race/ethnicity, and language. It compares the results to other census tracts (approximately the size of a neighborhood) across the country, reporting the results as a relative score indicating each census tract’s national percentile rankings.

Assets & Resources

These maps include contextual datasets showing early childhood education infrastructure and local health department locations. Collaboration between public health and child care is vital to ensuring that all young children receive the comprehensive care they need to thrive. The following maps illustrate some important community resources in the early learning and health spaces.

Local Health Departments (LHDs)

This dataset shows the locations of LHDs nationwide to geographically demonstrate where public health supports exist. LHDs in high priority counties are central players for boosting pediatric COVID-19 vaccine coverage and other health initiatives that improve child health outcomes. The LHDs are represented by points on the map. We have denoted select LHDs awarded by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) for different opportunities (e.g., Demonstration, adolescent, and faith-based sites). Local Health Departments are represented as two map layers: all local health departments and specific NACCHO demonstration sites. Click on a local health department to learn more.

Child Care Centers

Child care centers are important partners for promoting children's health. They offer a centralized location to provide health and safety services and information to children and families who may otherwise be difficult to reach. The map here displays a dataset from the US Department of Homeland Security that includes the locations of center-based child care providers for all 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Child care providers in schools and religious institutions are included in this dataset, but group-, home-, and family-based child care settings are not. Although more localized datasets may be needed for specific projects, this map can help you identify potential partners for public health initiatives and assess the availability of child care in your community.

Child care providers are displayed as a heat map when zoomed out and as individual points when zoomed in. Click on a point to learn more about a child care center.

Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (CCR&Rs) Look-Up Link:

CCR&Rs are trusted community organizations that are well suited to be intermediaries among the CDC, local health agencies, and child care providers to enhance young children’s health outcomes. CCR&Rs have superior on-the-ground knowledge of both the existing community child care services and potential gaps. CCR&Rs would be critical partners for any children’s health initiative at the local level. They likely have access to data on all child care facilities, including family and group home providers, that are not mapped here.

Click on a county to view the CCR&R link. Click on the link to see which CCR&Rs serve that county.

Community Profile Worksheet

When used alongside this map, the Community Profile Worksheet becomes a powerful tool for focusing health promotion efforts to enhance early childhood and public health outcomes. By reviewing the document, which includes guiding questions and instructions, users can gain a better understanding of the ECE community regarding public health.

Community Profile Worksheet

Technical Notes

Census tracts [outlined in light gray] within counties [outlined in bold black]

A census tract is a statistical subdivision of a county, an area roughly equivalent to a neighborhood with a population size between 1,200 and 8,000 people. When the Census Bureau reports data by various geographic areas, there is a hierarchy wherein census tracts make up counties or wards. The census tract geographic unit of analysis allows us to see the state's population in more uniform portions within counties. For this mapping project, we use both census tract-level and county-level data. To the right is a snapshot of several census tracts (outlined in light gray) within counties (outlined in bold black).   

For common GIS terms, please visit GIS Mapping Glossary.pdf (childcareaware.org)