Measuring Vulnerability and Resilience in the Time of Change Using Small Area Estimation

The United States Census Bureau launched a new tool for national agencies and local communities, the Community Resilience Estimates (CRE). The CRE tracks social and economic vulnerability by measuring the capacity of individuals and households to cope with the external stresses of the impacts of a disaster. From the beginning of the pandemic, the negative effects of COVID-19 have been strongly related to certain individual and household characteristics. With access to granular microdata from the Census Bureau, the CRE maps the risk assessment of local populations down to the neighborhood level and allows national and community leaders to more efficiently respond to emergencies. Federal statistical agencies are uniquely positioned to provide the most accurate and timely measures for an individually focused community resilience indicator. We use detailed demographic and economic data about individuals to build these estimates. Having the richest data sources, the federal government can produce estimates with the most granularity, highest statistical quality, and broadest coverage, while still protecting privacy. We do this through modeling multiple sources of data using small area estimation techniques. This work will soon be built out to include exposure data (wind, flood, heat, fire, etc) so that federal agencies and researchers can perform experimental studies for better evidenced based policy making and evaluation

Hazard Analysis of Mortality Among Twins and Triplets in the United States: From 20 Weeks Gestation Through the First Year of Life

Infant mortality is viewed as an important indicator of the health and social conditions of a population. However, the infant mortality rate in the United States is estimated to be much lower than those of other developed nations. This dissertation analyzes the hazard of fetal and infant death for twins and triplets in the United States between the years of 1995 and 2000. This dissertation had two main objectives: first, to examine the effects of the birthweight and gestational age on the hazards of fetal, neonatal, postneonatal, and infant death; and second, to better understand the timing of mortality among multiples during their early life. I show that after controlling for relevant characteristics of the mother and child, gestational age and birthweight significantly influence the hazard of mortality for twins and triplets. The major finding in this dissertation shows that there is a higher hazard for twins than triplets. The unexpected higher hazard of mortality for twins compared to triplets may well be due to the social and demographic characteristics of parents of twins and triplets, particularly the possible use of Assisted Reproductive Technologies

CBTS-SGL Webinar - The U.S. Census Bureau's Community Resilience Estimates- Dr. Bethany DeSalvo

On March, 2021 the CBTS COE, and the Stochastic Geomechanics Laboratory (SGL) organized a webinar with Dr. Bethany DeSalvo from the U.S. Census Bureau as a guest speaker to present the methodology behind the Community Resilience Estimates (CRE). The CRE provide an easily understood metric for how at-risk every neighborhood in the United States is to the impacts of COVID-19. This metric uses granular data to measure the individual and community's ability to respond to the effects of the pandemic. Information from the CRE could be easily utilized by policy makers to inform vaccine distribution, where to provide education on public health standards, and pinpoint areas that are at a greater risk of inequitable incomes