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DC Kids Count®
DC Kids Count®, a project of DC Action and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, tracks the well-being of the District's children and youth.
By providing high-quality data and trend analysis, DC Kids Count seeks to enrich local discussions about ways to secure better futures for all children and youth — and to raise the visibility of kids' issues through a nonpartisan, evidence-based lens.
DC Kids Count is part of the network of local-level organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia that provide a community-by-community picture of the condition of children. The network organizations also monitor budget and legislative decisions in the states and provide policy analysis based on evidence of what works for children and families.
DC Kids Count Online
Our new DC Kids Count Online gives you the best available District-wide data to measure and track the demographics, impacts of COVID-19, voting and democracy, economic justice, health, safety, and education of the District’s children and youth.
National KIDS COUNT® Data Center
The Data Center is an online resource that provides data on child well-being over time from the most trusted national sources and from more than 53 state-and-territory-based organizations. The KIDS COUNT Data Center houses hundreds of key child and family well-being indicators and more than four million data points at the national and local levels.
Kids Count Resources
2023 DC Kids Count Online
2021 KIDS COUNT Data Book
Full National Report
DC Profile in English
DC Profile in Spanish
DC Kids Count 2020 Data Book
Full report (pdf)
2020 KIDS COUNT Data Book
Full National report
2019 KIDS COUNT Data Book
Full report and DC press release
2019 KIDS COUNT
District of Columbia Data Profile on Kids Well-Being
2019 KIDS COUNT
Data Snapshot: Keeping Kids in Families: Trends in U.S. Foster Care Placement
Four-page Snapshot and DC press release
DATA SNAPSHOT
2017 Ward Snapshots: Tracking Child Well-Being in Your Ward
Do you know the birth, health and education trends for children in your ward? Learn more from the newest edition of DC KIDS COUNT’s Ward Snapshots.
POLICY BRIEF
Trends in Third Grade Reading Proficiency
An Analysis of DC CAS Results (2007-2014)
DATA SNAPSHOT
2015 Ward Snapshots: Tracking Child Well-Being in Your Ward
POLICY BRIEF
Giving Hispanic Students a Chance to Succeed from the Start
How Early Childhood Providers and Policy Makers in the District of Columbia can Support Young Hispanic Children’s Access to High-Quality Early Care and Education
POLICY BRIEF
Attendance Counts from the Start
How Education Leaders and Policymakers in the District of Columbia Can Decrease Chronic Early Absenteeism starting from Pre-K
ATTENDANCE SNAPSHOT
Attendance in DC Public Charter Schools: 2012-2013
If children are not in school, they are not learning the skills they need to graduate ready for college and a career. Absenteeism is extremely high in DC charter and public schools: 1 in 5 DC students had more than 10 unexcused absences last year. Chronic absenteeism increases achievement gaps because students from disadvantaged backgrounds with high absenteeism are more likely to fall behind academically.
ATTENDANCE SNAPSHOT
Attendance in DC Public Schools: 2012-2013
If children are not in school, they are not learning the skills they need to graduate ready for college and a career. Absenteesim is extremely high in DC public and charter schools: 1 in 5 DC students had more than ten unexcused absences last year. Chronic absenteeism increases achievement gaps because students from disadvantaged backgrounds with high absenteeism are more likely to fall behind academically.
DATA SNAPSHOT
Young Children – Our City’s Future
The number of young children is growing in the District of Columbia. Are DC neighborhoods ready for them? The first five years of cognitive and social development establish a foundation for a child’s school achievement and success as an adult. With an expanding young child population in DC, now is the time to make sure our city and all of our neighborhoods are places for children to flourish in their first five years and beyond.
DATA SNAPSHOT
Children’s Mental Health in D.C.: The Mismatch Between Need and Treatment
Child well-being is important for community and economic development in our city. Young children with strong mental health are prepared to develop crucial skills that help build the basis of a prosperous and sustainable society. When we ensure the healthy development of members of the next generation, they will pay that back through productivity and responsible citizenship.
DATA SNAPSHOT
Improving Quality Child Care Options for All DC Children
Our city’s prosperity will be determined by how we support the education and well-being of our youngest citizens. The first five years of life, particularly the first three, are a time of critical human development, when the foundation for lifelong learning and success is built to last through adulthood. Nearly 33,000 children under the age of five live in the District. Approximately 19,000 DC children are birth to age three, and nearly one-quarter (26 percent) of them live in poverty.
POLICY SNAPSHOT
Medicaid and CHIP Provide Coverage to More Than Half of All Children in D.C.
Medicaid and CHIP are crucial parts of the social safety net, providing health insurance coverage to more than half of all children ages 0–21 in D.C.1 and a third of children nationally.2 Without these two programs, more than 97,000 children in the District would have been uninsured in 2010.3 New research indicates that compared with the uninsured, Medicaid recipients are more likely to seek medical treatment, report better physical and mental health and experience less financial stress.4 Protecting Medicaid/CHIP is extremely important to safeguarding the health and well-being of our most vulnerable children. The difficult fiscal environment currently facing both D.C. and the federal government will almost certainly impact the future of public health insurance coverage for children and their families.
DATA SNAPSHOT
After spiking in fiscal year (FY) 2009, substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect in the District returned to more historic levels in FY 2010. Data show that child abuse and neglect have been declining across the country, but there is no evidence of that trend in D.C.