Teenage Birth Risk Factors and Resources in
Central Fresno County, California

Created in 1998 with the passage of Proposition 10, First 5 California and 58 local county commissions annually receive funds of approximately $200 per child for programs that benefit pregnant women and young children. Effectively targeting these funds with the intent of reducing disparities across ethnicity and geography presented an immediate challenge because California's categorically organized government agencies had no unified data system to assess local community needs.

First 5 California developed a multidimensional GIS, focusing holistically on the needs of pregnant women and young children. This First 5 California GIS was placed on the Internet so that local county commissions; program providers; family members; and health, education, and social services departments could use community-level GIS data to conduct their own needs assessment that focused on their particular community and interests.

This map displays one of the GIS dimensions—census tract-level hot spots with statistically significant higher teenage birth rates as well as related community resources. Statistics from other layers available in the GIS for the indicated hot spot show that 88 percent of births are to Hispanic mothers, and that low-income, poorly educated mothers with four or more children are more than twice as prevalent compared to the state population as a whole. Of particular interest is that resources tend to be located outside this census tract's boundaries.

A June 2004 survey found that First 5 California and the local county commissions use this GIS to help determine multidimensional community needs, identify specific resources, target new programs, develop appropriate public messages, and integrate the service systems that address those needs.

Other anecdotal information indicates that non-First 5 organizations also use the First 5 California GIS for a variety of purposes. These include child care planning among local Child Care Planning Councils in Los Angeles, San Mateo, Riverside, Marin, Alameda, and San Diego counties; informing state legislators about "Preschool for All" legislation; and understanding the health disparities in Native American areas at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The First 5 California GIS offers a way to optimize the use of limited public resources and improve the efficiency of government programs by focusing the appropriate government programs on local communities that are most in need.