Definition: Estimated percentage of children ages 0-17 with special health care needs (CSHCN) who in the previous 12 months needed referrals to see doctors or receive services, by difficulty getting needed referrals and complexity of health care needs (e.g., in 2024, among California CSHCN with more complex needs who needed referrals in the previous year, 48.5% had difficulties getting or were not able to get the referrals they needed).
Data Source: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Survey of Children's Health (Nov. 2025).
Footnote: Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) have or are at increased risk for a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional condition and require health and related services of a type or amount beyond that required by children generally. CSHCN with 'less complex needs' experience health conditions that are managed primarily through prescription medication; children with 'more complex needs' require additional care, services, or therapies in order to manage their conditions. These estimates are based on a survey of the population and are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. The notation S refers to estimates that have been suppressed because (a) there were fewer than 3 respondents in that group, (b) there were fewer than 20 total respondents and all were in the same group, or (c) the margin of error for the estimate is 10 percentage points or greater. The annotation [!] indicates that the estimate's margin of error is greater than 5 percentage points but less than 10 percentage points. For more information, see https://www.childhealthdata.org/learn-about-the-nsch/NSCH.
