11.14.07
Local Government Profiles on State Agency Webpages
State and County Profiles on South Carolina State Agency Webpages
Many of the state agencies of South Carolina are posting both statistical and narrative profiles of the state and counties for the areas they address. Once these profiles were only made available in print format, possibly monthly or quarterly, but more often only annually. Now, however, the information can be posted quickly to the website, so that current information is more readily available. Usually the data is presented in a format that is easy to print or download. Some of the agencies that post state and/or county profiles include:
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control
SC DHEC reports on the status of health and presence of disease or risky behaviors at http://www.scdhec.gov/hs/epidata/county_reports.htm. The page allows a user to choose a county or region and then view a list of reports. The disease reports are color graphs for a region or trends in mortality for the state.
South Carolina Employment Security Commission
SC ESC has three pages of county or labor area profiles. County Spotlights (http://www.sces.org/lmi/Spotlights/index.asp ) are single page descriptions of the population, labor force, income, location and climate. Workforce Investment Area (WIA) reports (http://www.sces.org/lmi/Spotlights/WIA/index.asp ) are similar to county spotlights, but are on 12 areas in South Carolina. Information includes extended demographic and labor statistics. Summary workforce information is reported monthly at http://www.sces.org/lmi/news/news.asp#Labor_Force_Data_by_Workforce_Investment_Area .
South Carolina Department of Commerce
SC Department of Commerce has county and city profiles giving information for prospective businesses at http://www.sccommerce.com/SearchCommunityProfiles.aspx. Simple search yields information by name or county. Advanced search allows a user to specify ports or interstate locations or to limit reports by population or labor market. Short reports on labor markets by place are also available (http://www.sccommerce.com/Searchlaborprofiles.aspx ).
South Carolina Department of Education
SC Department of Education reports on the status of schools in the counties at http://ed.sc.gov/topics/researchandstats/schoolreportcard/ . Choose the year desired, then the county. On the county page there will be a links to a Printable pdf Report Card for the County and to links for specific school reports. Reports give enrollment and summary reports on annual exams.
South Carolina Office of Research and Statistics
SC ORS receives information both from the state agencies and from the US Census Bureau. Their page of Community Profiles (http://www.sccommunityprofiles.org/ ) provides statistical profiles at the state, county, place, zip code, and census tract levels.
These profiles of the state and counties provide valuable information. However, in most cases only current information is available, as reports are merely updated as new information is acquired. Because the agencies opt to update existing documents instead of creating new documents that can be saved for comparison, they create the risk that vital information about the state may be lost. Agencies are encouraged to cooperate with the South Carolina State Library Depository System in efforts to identify and preserve the information about South Carolina and its residents.
