Uniting Agencies for America’s Children: The Power of Collaborative Statistics
The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics is a collection of 23 federal government agencies that work together to produce a compendium of statistics related to children and families. The Forum provides a unique opportunity for collaboration among federal agency staff whose work might not otherwise overlap.
With members from child-focused agencies such as the Administration for Children and Families and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau; statistical agencies such as the Census Bureau, the National Center for Health Statistics, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics; and other government agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Forum brings together statistical experts with nuanced knowledge across a range of topics.
For the last two decades, AIR has helped to convene the Forum and produce its flagship report, America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, which provides a comprehensive overview of children’s family and social environments, economic circumstances, health and health care, risk behaviors, physical environment and safety, and education, among other topics. This report helps researchers, policymakers, service providers, and the public better understand children and their families and can, in turn, inform decision-making that improves their lives.
Our Work
In 2024, AIR supported the Forum in developing a special issue report on maternal and infant health and well-being, which highlighted timely, policy-relevant data from member agencies.
The report included data on key topics such as maternal and infant mortality, the adequacy of prenatal care, gestational diabetes and hypertension, preterm birth, and low birthweight.
Facilitating Forum Collaboration
To promote collaboration across agencies, AIR provides administrative support for the Forum. We coordinate the flow of information and facilitate relevant and timely discussions among agencies and between the data and policy communities.
Showcasing Pertinent Data on America’s Children
To ensure that America’s Children provides accurate, high-quality data in a format that is easy to understand, AIR coordinates the report’s production processes, including project management, quality control steps like data checks and editing, and graphic design. We help to ensure that the report’s indicators—based on many complex data sets from more than a dozen different data sources—are both digestible and tell a cohesive story for readers.
We also manage the Forum’s social media presence, promoting report findings, amplifying key messages, and developing special products including animations and videos to promote public awareness of the Forum and its valuable information.
