Chapin Hall

In 2023, the Illinois legislature mandated the creation of a community or school district-level Children’s Adversity Index to measure community-level adversity. The goal of this legislation was to estimate exposure to potential sources of childhood trauma. Chapin Hall experts provided research and analysis to help develop the index by incorporating data on adverse incidents and elements of a child’s environment that may undermine their sense of safety, stability, and bonding. 

The Illinois Childhood Adversity Index joins other Illinois state-level initiatives like the Chapin Hall-led Blueprint for Transformation and the Whole Child Task Force with the aim of creating positive change at every level in Illinois for children, families, and communities. Using data allows policymakers, nonprofits, and state agencies to make data-informed decisions and policies about the focus and direction of funding and programming, prioritizing communities most in need. 

Within three domains: Community Risk Trajectories, Community Unmet Needs, and Community Barriers to Economic Progress, data was collected on various indicators in communities such as juvenile delinquency rate, rate of food insecurity, rate of vacant housing, and median income. Severity level to all indicators was then overlayed on a state map with colors indicating “Very high” to “Very low” exposure to these indicators. The ISBE website features a map that is interactive, allowing users to view data by school district. 

Specifically, the Chapin Hall team determined the appropriate data sources, established which indicators should be included in the index, and managed and transformed the data for the final map visualization. The map could serve as a precedent for other states looking to quantify adversity and use data to prioritize how community needs are addressed.  

For more information about this project and related work, contact Senior Policy Analyst Kiljoong Kim.