The 29th Annual Report on the Conditions of Children in Orange County studies four interdependent focus areas: Good Health, Economic Well-Being, Educational Achievement and Safe Homes and Communities. Each focus area highlights recent data that indicate improving or worsening trends over a 10-year period.

Findings: This year’s report reflects positive improvements in health insurance access, early prenatal care and a reduction in child poverty and high school dropout rates. The percentage of Orange County high school graduates considered ready for college increased as well. At the same time, several indicators showed negative movement suggesting areas for continued focus to improve children’s outcomes.

These include:

• A 4.3% decrease in the percentage of third grade students meeting English Language, Arts and Math standards, since 2019.
• A 12.1% increase in the chronic school absenteeism rate from 2021 to 2022.
• An 8.5% increase in the percentage of eleventh grade students experiencing depression-related feelings, with students who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) being over 1.5 times more likely to experi ence these feelings.
• Lastly, suicide is now the leading cause of death among 10-to-14-year-old children.

The report includes data from various years of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS).