The Illinois State Board of Education, as the lead agency, partnered with Chapin Hall in 2024 to conduct the research and analysis and develop the index itself. This multi-stage, collaborative effort involved significant input from state agencies and external experts, ensuring the index provides a holistic measure of the complex factors that affect child well-being.
The index organizes data related to adverse incidents and conditions into three key domains:
- Community Risk Trajectories: Examines risk factors, such as rate of overdose deaths, that contribute to negative community outcomes.
- Community Unmet Needs: Highlights indicators, such as rate of food insecurity, that show where supports are lacking within communities.
- Barriers to Economic Progress: Identifies economic conditions, such as unemployment rate and percentage of households spending more than 30% of their income on housing, that hinder community well-being.
The index is presented as a set of interactive maps that visually illustrate the distribution of adversity measures across the state. It includes a map depicting each community's overall exposure level, along with separate statewide maps for each domain, to provide a more detailed view of community-specific trauma exposure. Colors indicate “Very high" to “Very low" exposure to these indicators. Users can zoom in to select individual communities to view their profiles, allowing for comparisons of adversity exposure levels to other communities and the state average.
The Children's Adversity Index joins other state-level initiatives like the Illinois Children's Behavioral Health Transformation Initiative and the Whole Child Task Force with the aim of creating positive change at every level in Illinois for children, families, and communities.
