Mark Twain had it wrong. Data and statistics aren’t our enemies. In an effort to promote understanding between people and statistics, we want to share the following data resources with you:

United States Department of Agriculture – Economic Research Service

• Site Summary: ERS conducts research in five major areas: (1) a competitive agricultural system; (2) a safe food supply; (3) a healthy, well-nourished population; (4) harmony between agriculture and the environment; (5) an enhanced quality of life for rural Americans

• Suggested Uses: The REP doubts that you will ever need the US Carrot Statistics or the Hamburger Doneness and Consumer Preferences, however. ERS also offers access to a bevy of more germane data related to health, poverty, and food including Food Security statistics.

California Secretary of State – Reports of Registration

• Site Summary: The California Secretary of State is responsible for producing a statistical reports detailing voter registration levels throughout California several times per year.

• Suggested Uses: The data available here can help you measure and compare civic involvement in California communities.

Office of the Attorney General – State of California – Department of Justice

• Site Summary: The California Attorney General collects, analyzes, and reports statistical data, which provide valid measures of crime and the criminal justice process to government and the citizens of California.
  This site contains more than 5,000 statistical tables, 59 reports, 29 publications, links to federal state, and local agency statistics, and links to other criminal statistics services.

• Suggested Uses: Do you need arrest, domestic violence, or crime statistics for California? This is the place to go.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

• Site Summary: The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation publishes a variety of reports that range from statistical summaries of its offender populations to evaluation research reports on innovative rehabilitative treatment programs. Of particular interest, Adult Operations (formerly CDC) Population Reports and Statistics contain extensive data on characteristics of the institution and parole populations, historical trends, summaries of population movements and parole outcome (including recidivism).

• Suggested Uses: Looking for prison population or demographic reports? Searching for parole population or demographic reports? You will find them here.

Rural Healthcare Policy Council

• Site Summary:The mission of the California Rural Health Policy Council (RHPC) is to formulate and establish rural health policy for the State of California and to provide a focal point for discussion of rural health issues within the California Health and Human Services Agency.

• Suggested Uses: A good site for California rural population demographics and rural access to healthcare services information.

Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development

• Site Summary: The Mission of Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) is to promote healthcare accessibility through leadership in analyzing California’s healthcare infrastructure, promoting a diverse and competent healthcare workforce, providing information about healthcare outcomes, assuring the safety of buildings used in providing healthcare, insuring loans to encourage the development of healthcare facilities, and facilitating development of sustained capacity for communities to address local healthcare issues.

• Suggested Uses: The REP found the statistics on the disparities along racial and ethnic lines regarding quality of hospitals particularly useful.

Department of Social Services

• Site Summary: A comprehensive source for data and statistics on government benefits and their consumer populations

• Suggested Uses: We like the food stamp, children’s benefits, and the disability and adult program statistics.

US Department of Transportation – Bureau of Transportation Statistics

• Site Summary: This site provides comprehensive transportation statistics for geographic areas within the United States.

• Suggested Uses: Access to public transportation and the effectiveness of the available public transportation is an effective indicator for issues ranging from access to medical care providers to environmental justice to access to employment opportunities.