Indicators: How Can You Measure Progress?
Policymakers can measure progress toward ensuring families are safe, supportive and economically successful by tracking data regarding protective factors and risks . The indicators below are available by state and nationally over time, allowing policymakers to gauge their state’s progress toward positive family outcomes. While all indicators have limitations, they provide a starting point in understanding the extent of an issue. Additional information, such as community or population-specific needs, complements these data to provide a more complete picture of what families need to succeed.
- Child poverty : The percentage of children in households with income below the Federal Poverty Threshold (FPT).
- Home foreclosures: Measured by the number of properties with foreclosure filings within a given year or the rate of foreclosures.
- Family housing affordability : Percentage of children in low-income households where housing costs exceed 30 percent of income (cost-burdened).
- Recidivism: The rate of ex-offenders’ return to prison within 36 months of release.
- Foster care: Of the children that enter foster care, percentage that make timely, permanent exits through reunification, guardianship and adoption.
- Child abuse and neglect: Rates of child maltreatment victims and rates of repeat occurrences of maltreatment.
- Transitioning youth: Percentage of youth in care who leave care with no permanent home (emancipation).
- Rates of pregnancies and births to teens: Birth rates for teenagers 15-19 years