Early Childhood

February 17th, 2026
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  • The Data Management and Analysis Division of the Center for Policy, Planning, and Evaluation at the DC Department of Health provided vital records data on infant mortality, first trimester prenatal care, and teen births. These measures, by ward and by race, are saved at the Kids Count Data Center.
  • The number of deaths due to pregnancy/birth complications pulled from https://ocme.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/ocme/agency_content/Maternal%20Mortality%20Review%20Committee%20Annual%20Report_Finalv2.pdf.
  • The percentage of DC births covered by Medicaid pulls from pg. 142 of “DHCF FY25-26 Performance Oversight Responses (1).pdf“.
  • The home visiting capacity number pulls from the DC Home Visiting Council’s 2024 Annual Report.
  • Vaccine coverage rates are also reported in the Kids Count data portal, which pulls from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention annual report on Vaccination Coverage Among Children in Kindergarten.
  • WIC enrollment by race data pull from at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s WIC Participant and Program Characteristics 2022 report appendices, tables B.7 and B.8 (pgs. 62 and 64).
  • WIC coverage rates pull from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National- and State-Level Estimates of WIC Eligibility and WIC Program Reach in 2023 Table B.9 (pg. 33).
  • The statements that there are only enough ECE seats for roughly half of infants/toddlers come from comparing the FY2025 licensed capacity at https://datacenter.aecf.org/data/tables/10986-licensed-infant-toddler-care-capacity?loc=10&loct=3#detailed/3/any/false/2652,2562,2504,2100,2030,1766,1688,1646,1563,1447/6274/21304 to the 2024 single-year population estimates at https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2024.B09001?q=B09001:+Population+Under+18+Years+by+Age&g=040XX00US11.
  • The statement that shortages are biggest in areas with the most Black families comes from https://bainumfdn.org/assessing-child-care-access-in-dc.
  • Data on the number of licensed infant/toddler care slots and on subsidy enrollment comes from OSSE’s Performance Oversight Responses as recorded in the Kids Count Data Center. Infant/toddler population estimates pull from ACS table B09001. The estimate of the population of infants and toddlers potentially eligible for subsidy comes from ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimate microdata (using the AGEP variable to select for infants and toddlers, the POVPIP variable to select for incomes less than or equal to 300% FPL, the RC variable set to yes, and the geography set to DC).
  • Data on the number of children under age 3 and the number under age 5 pull from ACS table B09001.
  • Data on the rate of Children under 5 in poverty overall and by race are from ACS tables B17001A-I (the 2020-24 5-year estimates)
  • The average wage of infant/toddler care workers pulls from federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
  • Pre-Kindergarten enrollment by sector and year, and by race (the former of which is also in the Kids Count Data Center) pull from OSSE’s annual pre-K report. Districtwide Pre-K 3 vs. Pre-K 4 numbers pull from OSSE’s October Audited Enrollment Report (also in the Kids Count Data Center). Pre-Kindergarten enrollment by ward pulls from pg. 189 of OSSE’s FY25 performance oversight responses available as “FY25-26 OSSE Performance Oversight Pre-Hearing Question Responses.pdf” at https://lims.dccouncil.gov/Hearings/hearings/2162.
DC Action

DC Kids Count is powered by DC Action and provides the best available data to measure and track the well-being of our District’s children and young adults. Research for DC Kids Count is funded in part by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The findings and conclusions presented are those of DC Action’s alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Foundation.