Off to a Good Start
- Why did we create this?
- What's New?
The Urban Child Institute (UCI) began publication of the Data Book: The State of Children in Memphis and Shelby County in 2006 to inspire action by encouraging data-driven decisions, highlighting the challenges and opportunities facing our community, and shaping a community-wide conversation about the importance of giving every child a fair start in life. Since that time, the community has frequently used the annual Data Book, using statistics from it in local discussions, policy development, and grant applications. This year, UCI took a step back and asked ourselves how children in Shelby County are doing and where we, as a community, still have challenges. Our analysis was clear—unless our children have the supports and nurturing environments to succeed, their future and the future of our community will not be bright. While UCI spent many years focusing on cognitive outcomes and the science of brain development, other important issues—like the social and emotional well-being of our children—deserved more attention.
You may notice a few differences in the 2014 Data Book, now called Off to a Good Start: Social and Emotional Development of Memphis’ Children. First, we organize our discussion around themes related to children’s social and emotional development, whereas the original Data Book series focused on cognitive development and the science of the brain. Second, we have created more sections in each chapter. We include an explanation of why the topic matters, summary data from local and national sources, and recommendations for community action. Finally, we have partnered with the RAND Corporation, a leading nonprofit research and policy analysis organization, which helped UCI rethink the purpose, content, and rigor of the evidence summarized in Off to a Good Start.