Introduction

The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) is once again partnering with the Oklahoma Department of Libraries to offer online access to the latest Oklahoma Kids Count Report. This publication gathers data from a variety of sources to report on the well-being of children and youth in Oklahoma. State and federal agencies, private consultants and businesses, foundations and other organizations have contributed information and assistance to help the OICA issue this document.

The 2004 report has a special focus on the circumstances and behaviors which impact our children; and for the first time since 1999, the report revisits the state's economic clusters to illustrate the diverse environments in which our children live. Following a one-year hiatus for the special 2003 census report, the 2004 Kids Count also returns with the traditional benchmarks used to track the health and welfare of Oklahoma kids.