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The following
vision statement underlies the approach to developing this
report card: "Regardless of the socio-economic status
of his/her family and community every child has
the right to childhood experiences which promote the chances
of developing into a healthy, well-adjusted and
productive adult" -adopted by Toronto City Council
1999.
This 5th
edition of The Toronto Report Card on Children measures
the health and well-being of children using a variety of social
indicators. Changes in the condition of children over time
are monitored to ensure that targets for improvement are developed
and adequate resources are allocated to allow every child,
regardless of their circumstance, to thrive and grow.
This report
follows the framework laid out in the original 1999 report,
where indicators are developed based on the following determinants
of child health and well-being: economic security, health,
readiness to learn, Safety and Positive Parenting. The use
of a variety of social indicators allows us to monitor the
situation of children, and to determine whether this situation
is stable, improving or getting worse.
This report
represents a coordinated effort from City staff, including
Children's Services, Public Health, Parks and Recreation,
Social Development and Administration, Social Services, Toronto
Shelter Housing and Support, Toronto Police Service, Toronto
Public Library as well as staff from Toronto District School
Board, Toronto Catholic District School Board, Children's
Aid Society of Toronto, Catholic Children's Aid Society of
Toronto and Jewish Family and Child Services of Toronto.
Working
group members provided data as well as interpretive and contextual
information relating to the health and well-being of children
in their sector, in an effort to illustrate the status of
children in the city.
Each of
these contributors provide a range of services, supports and
initiatives aimed at promoting positive outcomes for our city's
children, many of which are detailed in the report.
Toronto
Children's Services staff took the lead in processing and
mapping the final data and coordinating and producing this
report.
Purpose
The Toronto
Report Card on Children Volume 5 Update 2003 is intended to
fulfill several functions:
- to track changes in the condition of children since the
2002 update
- to measure progress in improving the situation of children
- to identify gaps in service
- to help build public awareness and understanding of the
needs of children
- to serve as a planning tool for service providers, City
officials and elected representatives so they can make decisions
about allocating resources
- to act as a stimulus for political and community action
to improve the situation of children.
Methodology
Statistics
Canada data
Unless otherwise noted, the Toronto Report Card on Children
Volume 5 uses recently released Statistics Canada 2001 Census
data to report on characteristics of children and families
living in the city. This report uses custom Statistics Canada
tables detailing economic and Census family data specifically
for City of Toronto families with children 0-14 years. This
will differ from data gathered from standard Census 2001 tables
that include all economic and Census families with or without
children.
The Census
2001 family income data describes family incomes earned in
2000, and is compared against family incomes from the 1996
Census which describes family incomes earned in 1995. In 1996
low-income cut-off (LICO) data was extracted for children
0-12 years. In 2001 the low-income data was expanded to include
children 0-14 years.
It is
important to note that while the Statistics Canada Census
is our main source for data regarding family incomes, there
are limitations. Coverage errors (in particular, when dwellings
or individuals are missed or incorrectly enumerated) can result
in under-coverage in some areas. Non-response errors result
when responses cannot be obtained from a sufficient number
of households or individuals or their questionnaires are incomplete.
This may result in the suppression of particular statistics
for a defined geography. This suppression is the result of
confidentiality rules that prohibit the release of any data
that may be used to identify any individual response. This
was the case for income data from a key census tract in the
Regent Park area of Toronto, which has traditionally been
a census tract with very high proportions of low-income children.
The response rates for this census tract were very low, causing
the family income data to be suppressed and potentially underestimating
the percentage of low-income children. In addition, when analyzing
specific groups (e.g., lone-parent families) at too detailed
a level, the data may also become suppressed.
Indicator
data
The
indicator data provided from the contributing partners throughout
the Determinants section may vary in terms of the ages of
children and the time period that is being reported. All sectors
collect and maintain data for different age groups and in
different ways. The data provided was always the most current
and complete that was available at the time of the production
of this report.
Ward
boundary changes
Amendments
were made to city ward boundaries in late 2003. A portion
of Ward 28 Toronto Centre-Rosedale, south of Bloor Street
and bounded by Rosedale Valley Road on the west and the eastern
ward boundary (Don River) on the east, moved into Ward 27
Toronto Centre Rosedale. This change will affect the comparability
of some ward-based data. All 2001 Census data reported has
been calculated based on the new ward boundaries.
Maps
Throughout
the document, reference is made to specific maps. Maps can
be found starting on page 65. These maps will give a clearer
picture of how issues relating to children vary across the
city. Map
20, electoral boundaries, is a handy reference
outlining the federal, provincial and municipal electoral
boundaries for the City of Toronto.
Included
in the back pocket of this report are three mylar overlays
that can be used in conjunction with any of the maps to give
an added dimension.
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