Child Aid Hampered by Flawed Data
July 28, 2009 by Mark Ellis
Filed under Business
Despite the efforts of many charitable organizations across the country to help America’s most needy children, one of these organizations has accused the government of releasing severely flawed data that makes helping these children much more difficult. According to a report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the government needs to make a variety of changes to the way it collects such data.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation releases an annual report called Kids Count which addresses national health and well-being of children. The 2009 Kids Count report calls the way in which the government calculates poverty as flawed, urges the 2010 Census to be more vigilant in counting children and minorities, and asks for an overhaul of the national vital statistics system.
Several members of the foundation, including senior vice president Patrick McCarthy, have warned the government against siphoning money away from data collection efforts due to the recession. Such a diversion of funds, according to McCarthy, causes more monetary loss due to increased waste, in addition to poorer standards of living for children.
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