Cuyahoga Child Data Registry

The Center on Urban Poverty & Community Development houses and maintains a unique data system focused on the well-being of and services to children in the metropolitan Cleveland area. With leadership funding from the Cuyahoga Board of County Commissioners, through the County’s Office of Early Childhood, the Center has brought together a range of data sets and linked them at the child-level. These data focus on children age birth to six, but in some cases include data on older children. The data system allows for the examination of patterns of experiences of children in cross-section and over time, and at the neighborhood level (or other geographies). The data sets that are currently linked (or to be linked) in the system include:

Data Source & Years Linked

Birth certificate records 1992-2007
Death certificate records 1992-2004, 2005-2007*

Public Supports & Services

Child welfare 1992 to 2007
Cash welfare (TANF) 1997 to 2007
Food Stamps 1997 to 2007
Child care vouchers 1997 to 2007
Medicaid/Healthy Start enrollment 1997 to 2007
Medicaid/Healthy Start claims and encounters 1997 to 2005

Specialized Early Childhood Services

Home visiting services – prenatal, newborn, and ongoing 1999 to 2007
Early intervention services 1999 to 2007
Special needs child care assistance 2000 to 2007
Early childhood mental health services (0-3) 2007 to 2008*

Other Data

Kindergarten attendance (Cleveland Metropolitan School District students only) 1996 to 2009*
Elevated child blood lead levels (selected children only) 2006 to 2009*

*Data not yet linked.

A current principal use of the data system is for the ongoing evaluation of early childhood services in Cuyahoga County. The County’s Office of Early Childhood (Invest in Children) contracts with the Center to evaluate services and track the well-being and service usage of children in the County. (http://investinchildren.cuyahogacounty.us/)

Since 2007, the Center has prepared statistical profiles of children age 0-6 for all municipalities within Cuyahoga County. (http://neocando.case.edu/cando/index.jsp?tPage=ecprofiles)

Products based on Data in Registry

Coulton, C., & Fischer, R. L. (2010). Using early childhood wellbeing indicators to influence local policy and services. Chapter for From Child Welfare to Child Well-being: An International Perspective on Knowledge in the Service of Making Policy, S. B. Kamerman, S. Phipps, & A. Ben-Arieh (eds.). New York: Springer.
Coulton, C., Fischer, R., Hardy, P, & Lalich, N. (2008). Cuyahoga County 2007 Child Well-Being & Tracking Update. Cleveland, OH: Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University. December.
Fischer, R. L., Lalich, N., & Coulton, C. (2008). Taking it to scale: Evaluating the scope and reach of a community-wide initiative on early childhood. Evaluation and Program Planning, 31, 199-208.
Fischer, R. L., Nelson, L., Mikelbank, K., & Coulton, C. (2008). Space to learn and grow: Assessing early childhood and education in a large urban county. Child and Youth Care Forum, 37(2), 75-86.
Coulton, C., Fischer, R., Hardy, P, & Lalich, N. (2007). Cuyahoga County 2007 Child Well-Being & Tracking Update. Cleveland, OH: Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University. October.
Coulton, C., Fischer, R., Hardy, P, & Lalich, N. (2006). Cuyahoga County Invest in Children 2006 Child Well-Being & Tracking Update. Cleveland, OH: Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University. September.
Fischer, R., Lalich, N., Andrade, M., & Coulton, C. (2005). The scope and reach of the ECI: Monitoring the coverage and connections of ECI programs. Ch. 3 in Cuyahoga County Early Childhood Initiative Evaluation: Phase II Final Report. Cleveland, OH: Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University. June.
Fischer, R. L. (2003). Taking the initiative to scale: An evaluation of the Early Childhood Initiatve. Briefly Stated, 3(2). Cleveland, OH: Center on Urban Poverty & Social Change, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University. October.
Coulton, C., Withers, J., Andrade, M., & Fischer, R. (2003). The scope and reach of ECI: Coverage and connections of ECI programs. Ch. 3 in Cuyahoga County Early Childhood Initiative Evaluation: Phase I Final Report. Cleveland, OH: Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University. February.

For more information on the data holdings or the data management procedures, please contact Nina Lalich at nina.lalich@case.edu or (216) 368-3029.