For the first time, there is a single consistent metric of child opportunity for every neighborhood in the United States. The Child Opportunity Index (COI) measures and maps the quality of contemporary resources and conditions that matter for children to develop in a healthy way in the neighborhoods where they live today. It allows users to uncover patterns that affect children’s health and wellbeing and better target resources that result in more equitable communities.
For example, the Index found that Albany, NY ranked worst among the 100 largest metros in terms of the concentration of black children in very low-opportunity neighborhoods. This video highlights how, in response to these findings, city stakeholders developed a capital improvement plan to increase access to ADA-compliant and cerebrally challenging parks and playgrounds in the city’s under-resourced neighborhoods. Today the parks are not only gathering places for neighbors of all races and ethnicities, but also points of pride for residents. This is one of many stories from across the country that show how stakeholders are using the COI to help ensure health equity in their communities.