Social Work -- Online Federal and State Government Information Resources

• General Sources
• Policy Resources
• Statistics

Google.com/unclesam
Better search engine for finding government information on the Internet.

USA.gov
U.S. Government Official web portal for finding U. S. Government information on the Web. Can limit by state - use the ADVANCED search.

General Sources

Budget of the United States Government
Includes the Economic Report of the President and a Citizen's Guide to the Federal Budget.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
Financial and nonfinancial assistance programs administered by the federal government.

CIA World Factbook 2007
Useful for profiles of countries, including background, geography, government, transportation, area maps

Congressional Directory
Directory of the US Congress (109th), complete with short biographies of each member of the House and Senate.

Lexis-Nexis Congressional - Access via InfoTree - Social Sciences > Government > United States > Legislative Branch Congressional publications; bills, laws, and regulations; members and committees.

Federal Citizen Information Center National Contact Center
A listing of toll-free phones numbers for federal government information. The FAQ, arranged by broad subject categories, is good for brief information on who to contact in the government.

GPO Access
Federal databases including the Code of Federal Regulations, the Federal Register, the Congressional Record, and the catalog of US Government Publications.

The Green Book
Searchable database of publications from the US House Ways and Means Committee. Includes earlier editions, background material and data on Social Security, employment, earnings, welfare, child support, the elderly, poverty, etc.

Handbook on Child Support Enforcement
US Department of Health and Human Services guide establishing paternity, establishing a support order, enforcing the support order, and working across state lines.

IRS Forms & Publications
Downloadable forms, instructions, and publications. Some forms or publications can also be accessed online or requested by mail.

Medicare
Official US government site for Medicare information.

National Atlas of the United States
This site from the US Geological Survey allows users to create their own maps of the United States or parts of the US that have the geographical or statistical information of interest to them. For instance, maps can be created that indicate the distribution of specific ethnic populations or mortality rates. (Ask for assistance from library staff if you have any difficulty with this site.)

National Governors Association Online Links to governors' mailing addresses, web addresses, as well as general biographical information on each state governor. Also, a PDF file of the governors' political affiliations and terms of office is available. (NGA is a public policy organization which "supports the work of the governors by providing a bipartisan forum to help shape and implement national policy.")

National Public School and School District Locator
A searchable database for address information for public schools in the US Information available includes school district codes/IDs, student/teacher ratios, number of students in each grade, and student ethnicity.

Ohio Educational Directory
Can search for some demographic information about Ohio schools.

Occupational Outlook Handbook
Search or browse information--including working conditions, training, job outlook, and average salaries--for hundreds of jobs.

PubMed
"The PubMed database was developed in conjunction with publishers of biomedical literature as a search tool for accessing literature citations and linking to full-text journal articles at web sites of participating publishers." This is the free version of MEDLINE.

State of Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage & Family Therapist Board
State certification/licensing information for Ohio, including the laws and legislation governing the practice of social work/counseling in the state.

Social Security Online
Official web site of the U.S. Social Security Administration.

Uncle Sam -- Who's Who in the Federal Government
A list of who's who in the US government, with links to their bio pages.

US Code
From Cornell Law School, the most recent version of the US Code from the House of Representatives. It's searchable by title and section number. You can also search within each title by keyword or just browse.

Working Partners for an Alcohol- and Drug-Free Workplace
An "interactive resource" which offers summaries and some full-text information relating to workplace substance abuse issues. Of particular interest is the State and Territory Laws section.

Policy Resources

Children in the States
Data from the Children's Defense Fund about the health and welfare of children in each state.

General Accounting Office (GAO)
"Provides both summaries and full-text files of reports and testimony dating back to fiscal year 1979. GAO posts full-text files on its web site daily, often within 24 hours of when a report or testimony is publicly released."

Political Science Resources - Think Tanks
Compilation of links to think tanks and advocacy groups' web pages. From the University of Michigan Library Documents Center.

Poverty Guidelines, Research and Measurement
From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Public Agenda Online
Public Agenda is a nonpartisan, nonprofit public opinion research and citizen education organization, focusing on "school and health care reform, national security, AIDS, crime, economic competitiveness and the environment" in well-balanced reports and research studies.

Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates
Latest (2000) state-level estimates of poverty, from the Census Bureau.

The State of the World's Children 1996-2007
Each year, UNICEF's flagship publication, The State of the World's Children, closely examines a key issue affecting children. The report includes supporting data and statistics - to protect the rights and meet the needs of young children. Topics include: education, child labor, nutrition, girls, education and development

National Center for Victims' of Crime
Covers Victim Assistance, Provider Support, Civil Litigation, Public Policy, and their Resource Library Some information only available via a membership.

National Survey of America's Families Public Use Files, the State Database, the Welfare Rules Database, and the State TANF Income Calculator
From the Assessing the New Federalism research project by the Urban Institute. A database of AFDC/TANF rules for all 50 states, from 1996 to 1999. Although there is no charge to use ANF data, they do require users to register to use the data.

Statistics

America's Children Reports 1998 - 2007
An annual report prepared by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics.

Appalachian Regional Commission
Online Resource Center with Regional Data & Research, Information by topic, Funding, Community Planning, Link to the Appalachia Magazine.

Bureau of Justice Statistics
Statistics about crimes and victims, criminal offenders, and the justice system.

CenStats
Census data on various topics. Of most interest to social workers is the Detailed Occupation by Race, Hispanic Origin and Sex data (employment data), and the USA Counties 1998 (summary statistics on business, crime, education, housing, labor, income, population, poverty, vital statistics, etc.). See also US Census Bureau.

County and City Data Books (1988, 1994, 2000 editions)
U. S. Census Bureau CCDB (2000 edition)
Electronic versions of the 1944 - 1988 and 1994 County & City Data Books, which provide summary demographic and vital statistics for states, counties, and cities over 25,000. Information is provided as dBASE files which researchers convert to SPSS format. The 2000 Edition is in Adobe Acrobat PDF files.

EconData.Net
Links to over 500 socioeconomic data sources, including governmental sources.

Education Statistics at a Glance
From the National Center for Education Statistics, including The Condition of Education: 2000 - 2007, Digest of Education Statistics 1995 - 2006 and Indicators of School Crime and Safety 2006, which are full-text and searchable.

Fedstats
A gateway to statistics from over 100 federal agencies. Makes it easy to find numbers collected by the federal government "without having to know in advance which agency produces them."

Historical U.S. Census Data Browser
Demographic and economic data by state and county from 1790 to 1960.

ILGARD Institute for Local Government Administration and Rural Development
Provides applied research and technical assistance to government and development organizations and serves as a public service learning laboratory for Ohio University students.

Kids Count
Kids Count online data measures the educational, social, economic, and physical well-being of children in the United States and by individual states.

OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention)
Site provides "basic information on juvenile crime and victimization and on youth involved in the juvenile justice system," including statistical information on juvenile arrests, court case counts, numbers in residential placement, etc.

National Center for Health Statistics Fast Stats
Browse health and general demographic statistics on all sorts of topics, such as alcohol use, divorce, and mental health. You can also look at some statistics by state. Each topic begins with a summary of relevant statistics, but there are also links to more detailed tables.

National Criminal Justice Reference Service
Information on national and international criminal justice issues, including juvenile justice and crime prevention, with links to the NCJRS Abstracts Database.

Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 2003 (31st edition)
This Sourcebook of brings together data about all aspects of criminal justice in the United States presented in over 600 tables from more than 100 sources. Organized into 6 topical sections, from nature of offenses and characteristics of persons arrested to jail populations and public attitudes toward crime and criminal justice.

Statistical Abstract of the United States
From 1878 authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States.

Statistics Canada
The "official source for Canadian social and economic statistics." See also the Statistical Profile of Canadian Communities, a searchable source of population, mortality, income and education data.

UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Statistics for education and literacy, science and technology, and culture and communication, from various countries, collected by UNESCO's Institute for Statistics.

United States Census Bureau
Social, demographic, and economic information and statistics. Look here for the Census 2000 results, and redistricting information, as well as the American FactFinder product.

United States Gazetteer
Maps and 1990 census data.