Asher Ben-Arieh & Robert M. Goerge 
Indicators of Children’s Well-Being 
Understanding Their Role, Usage and Policy Influence

ROBERT C. GRANGER William T. Grant Foundation During the past 10 years or so, a number of researchers, policymakers, and prac- tioners have made important progress on the identi?cation and use of indicators of children’s well-being. The United States federal government, via the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health, as well as such private funders as the Annie E. Casey Foundation, have supported many of these efforts. During this time, the William T. Grant Foundation, who was not a primary funder of such activities, was nevertheless one of the many institutions bene?ting from the work. Fortunately, Asher Ben-Arieh, Larry Aber, and Bob Goerge persuaded us to support a working conference on how to assess the effects of indicator usage on policiesandprograms.Thisvolumeistheresultoftheirtalentsandtheclearthinking of many of their colleagues. It is my pleasure to introduce the volume with a few thoughts about its contributions and the questions that remain.

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GENERAL.- GENERAL.- The Role of Social Indicators in an Era of Human Service Reform in the United States.- Measuring and Monitoring Children’s Well-Being: The Policy Process.- USING THE INDICATORS.- USING THE INDICATORS.- Indicator Measurement in Comprehensive Community Initiatives.- The Power of Regional Indicators in Achieving Action: The Southern Regional Initiative on Child Care.- The Use of Indicators of Child Well-Being in the United Kingdom and the European Union.- Using Indicators of Child Well-Being at the International Level.- THE POLICY PERSPECTIVE.- THE POLICY PERSPECTIVE.- Preparing Indicators for Policymakers and Advocates.- Using Indicators of School Readiness to Improve Public Policy for Young Children.- Increasing the Impact of Indicators Among Legislative Policymakers.- How Can We Better Use Whole Population and Outcomes Indicators: A Policymaker’s Perspective.- THE RESEARCH PERSPECTIVE—METHODS AND TECHNIQUES.- THE RESEARCH PERSPECTIVE—METHODS AND TECHNIQUES.- Studying the Role of Child Well-Being Indicators in the Policy Process: Using Surveys Among Decision Makers.- Indicators and Policy Decisions: The Important Role of Experimental Studies.- Informative or Not? Media Coverage of Child Social Policy Issues..- Some Possible Directions for Research.- Studying the Impact of Indicators of Child Well-Being on Policies and Programs.