​Summary: The Children’s Partnership (TCP) acknowledges the role that systemic racism and discrimination play in creating and perpetuating health inequities and works to address their underlying causes by improving the conditions in which children live, learn, grow and play. This study provides an overview of key child health facts in California and nationally to inform the work to be done to raise healthy, thriving children.

Authors used different sources of data, including California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) 2016, 2019, and 2020 data.

Findings:  Racism has been scientifically proven as a core determinant of child health that has a profound impact on the well-being of Black children, their families and their communities. Some of the authors’ findings include:

• There are at least 698,317 children and youth under 18 who identify as Black, including those who also identify with another race or ethnicity, making up about 8% of the state’s 9 million children.
• Nearly 98% of Black children have health insurance, leaving about 11,700 who remain uninsured. Over 3 in 5 (61%) Black children and youth rely on Medi-Cal compared to 1 in 2 (49%) of all children.
• Black children account for 13% of COVID-19 deaths - nearly twice the rate of their share of the population 0–17. Black children and youth have the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates across all groups. 12% of Black children ages 5–11 have received the vaccine and 44% of Black youth ages 12-17 have received it, compared to 24% and 66% of all children and youth in these age ranges, respectively.
• Black children are 6 times more likely to be experiencing food insecurity compared to all children. Nearly 1 in 5 (18% or 62,000) Black families sometimes or often could not afford the food they needed compared to 1 in 33 (3%) of all families.
• About 1 in 10 (~49,100) Black children live in a household without a broadband connected device compared to 1 in 14 of all children. Black children in Medi-Cal have the lowest numbers of telehealth visits of all racial and ethnic groups.

Read the Publication:

• External Report: A Child is a Child: Black Children's Health