3rd Annual Children's Summit...

Community leaders discussed issues that impact our children, including child welfare, physical and mental health, the juvenile justice system and human trafficking.

Last Tuesday January 20, 2009, at the United Way Community Resource Center in Houston, CHILDREN AT RISK presented the latest data on "Status of Houston's Children" at the annual Children's Summit.

CHILDREN AT RISK partnered with March of Dimes, Collaborative for Children, ChildBuilders, Houston Rescue and Restore Coalition, University of Houston - Graduate School of Social Work, Project GRAD - Houston, One Voice, Mental Health America-Houston, Communities in Schools, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston A+ Challenge, Mission Houston, Gateway to Care, Healthy Family Initiatives, and Systems of Hope

Data at a glance:

Child Welfare
· 23.5% or 259,986 of Harris County children age 0-17 are living below the federal guidelines for sufficient income
· 47.4% of Harris County children live in or near poverty

Human Trafficking
· On average, 30% of all tips to the National Human Trafficking Hotline come from Texas, with approximately 90% from the Greater Houston area

Health
· Texas is 6th in the nation for childhood obesity, and 21% of Harris County children are obese

Education
· The chance of Texas high school students enrolling in college by age 19 is 35% because few students graduate from high school and enroll in college

Juvenile Justice
· Research shows that at least 50% of the children in the Harris County Juvenile Justice System have a mental health need

To download PDF with presentation, click here.

To go to home page, click here.

To read current news, click here.