As promised, NPP is continually improving our Federal Priorities Database, and this week we have two important updates to share (and it’s only Wednesday).  Now that we have some new and improved data, look for more data stories coming soon.

Poverty

We’ve changed the source of our poverty numbers from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) to its American Community Survey (ACS).  It sounds academic, but the change is important. Although the CPS presents poverty numbers by state, the Census folks don’t recommend comparing them over time, which of course is exactly what we want to do.  The ACS has a larger sample size and is, therefore, more accurate at the state level.

Furthermore, the ACS breaks down poverty numbers by race, age, and gender and goes as granular as geographic areas over 65,000 people. That gives us a lot to work with in the future. For now, we’ve simply replaced the CPS numbers with their better ACS counterparts, including the numbers released last week.  Click below to view, map, and download poverty information:

Yesterday, the Census Bureau released the FY 2010 Consolidated Federal Funds Report (CFFR), which is the source of our expenditure datasets—all 38 of them. We’ve been anxiously awaiting this release because frankly, it was lame to have our expenditure data stop at FY 2009 as the country gets ready to roll into FY 2012.

So all expenditure datasets (e.g., WIC, TANF, Head Start, Pell Grants) are now current through FY 2010. For a complete list, check the database’s blog.  In fact, even if you don’t want the complete list, you should check the blog anyway because it’s a great way to keep up with our progress.