title: The child opportunity index: improving collaboration between community development and public health.
abstract: Improving neighborhood environments for children through community development and other interventions may help improve children's health and reduce inequities in health. A first step is to develop a population-level surveillance system of children's neighborhood environments. This article presents the newly developed Child Opportunity Index for the 100 largest US metropolitan areas. The index examines the extent of racial/ethnic inequity in the distribution of children across levels of neighborhood opportunity. We found that high concentrations of black and Hispanic children in the lowest-opportunity neighborhoods are pervasive across US metropolitan areas. We also found that 40 percent of black and 32 percent of Hispanic children live in very low-opportunity neighborhoods within their metropolitan area, compared to 9 percent of white children. This inequity is greater in some metropolitan areas, especially those with high levels of residential segregation. The Child Opportunity Index provides perspectives on child opportunity at the neighborhood and regional levels and can inform place-based community development interventions and non-place-based interventions that address inequities across a region. The index can also be used to meet new community data reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act.
authors.affiliation: Dolores Acevedo-Garcia (dacevedo@brandeis.edu) is the Samuel F. and Rose B. Gingold Professor of Human Development and Social Policy and director of the Institute for Child, Youth, and Family Policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, in Waltham, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Acevedo-Garcia
authors.affiliation: Nancy McArdle is a senior research consultant at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: McArdle
authors.affiliation: Erin F. Hardy is research director of diversitydatakids.org and a fellow at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.
authors.forename: Erin F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Hardy
authors.affiliation: Unda Ioana Crisan is a research associate at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.
authors.forename: Unda Ioana
authors.initials: UI
authors.lastname: Crisan
authors.affiliation: Bethany Romano is senior department coordinator for the Institute for Child, Youth, and Family Policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.
authors.forename: Bethany
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.affiliation: David Norris is a senior researcher at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, Ohio State University, in Columbus.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Norris
authors.affiliation: Mikyung Baek is a research and technical associate at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, Ohio State University.
authors.forename: Mikyung
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.affiliation: Jason Reece is director of research at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, Ohio State University.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reece
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000639:trends*; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D011204:Poverty Areas; D011634:Public Health; D011640:Public Policy; D012922:Social Change; D064890:Social Determinants of Health; D014481:United States
keywords: Children’s Health; Disparities; community development; neighborhoods; residential segregation