x-post/FYI: National Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health

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National Survey of Children with Special Health Needs

Federally funded Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health Web site

http://www.childhealthdata.org/content/Default.aspx

New child health data show state-to-state differences in quality of care

A new government survey reveals children with special health care needs, such

as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and asthma, don't

consistently get the care that is federally recommended and that there are vast

state-to-state differences. This is the first time standardized data at the

national and state level has been available to the media and families in an

easily accessible way.

" Parents of children with special health care needs often have obstacles in

getting the information they need, " said Bethell, Ph.D., director of

the Data Resource Center and associate professor of pediatrics in the Oregon

Health & Science University School of Medicine. " The Maternal and Child Health

Bureau, which designed and sponsored this survey, is committed to making this

data available to the public, parents and media through the Data Resource

Center, where you can find specific information about how your state fares in an

easy-to-use Web site. "

The survey is especially significant because it finds that more than 10 million

American children have a special health care need -- that amounts to one in five

households with children younger than 18. While states perform well in specific

areas, NO STATE is providing ALL of the recommended care to the majority of

their children with special health care needs.

These differences found between states are cause for concern. For instance, in

Kansas, just 28 percent of children younger than 12 with special health needs

receive care that meets all five of the performance measures recommended by the

federal government. By contrast, in Montana, only 13 percent of children with

special health care needs meet all five of these measures. For adolescents, the

best-performing state was New Hampshire and the worst was Mississippi.

In addition to state-by-state comparisons, the Data Resource Center Web site

housed at OHSU allows media and families to search by other factors such as

income or race/ethnicity.

The public and others are encouraged to take advantage of the federally funded

Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health Web site at

http://www.childhealthdata.org/content/Default.aspx