KIDS COUNT

On Friday, November 17, CPPP released The State of Texas Children 2006 at a breakfast briefing in San Antonio. Texas KIDS COUNT's annual data book provides the latest look at the well-being of children from across the state in such areas as health care, education, and poverty. See below for details on buying the book and Frances Deviney's special San Antonio/Bexar County presentation! To learn how kids in county are doing, visit http://www.cppp.org/factbook06/.

While conditions for teens have improved in Texas, teens statewide are significantly more likely to have sex, drink alcohol, drive drunk, or ride with a drunk driver than teens in other states, according to data compiled in The State of Texas Children 2006. The report, released today by the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP), examines the status of children across all of Texas’ 254 counties. To learn how kids in your county are doing, visit http://www.cppp.org/factbook06/.

The percentage of kids living in poverty in Texas has increased by 5 percent since 2000. With this increase in poverty comes an increase in infant mortality, low-birthweight babies, and the percentage of babies who are not immunized, according to the KIDS COUNT Data Book, a national report released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. This national report is a precursor to the fall release of the Texas KIDS COUNT report that will provide data on child well-being for every county in the state.

This report, released today, examines Texas' dropout issue. Among the report's findings: If every 9th grader in Fall 2000 graduated from the Texas public school system in Spring 2004, it would have cost Texas an additional $1.7 billion over four years, just for the Class of 2004. At the same time, if every 16-19 year old who is not in school and does not have a high school diploma simply graduated, the state's combined earnings would increase by about $3 billion over four years. In order to help you assess these economic consequences on your community, we have compiled a supplemental county-by-county data spreadsheet.

As newspapers across the state publish graduation stories and showcase local students who are off to college, often overlooked are the Texas teens who have dropped out before earning their diplomas. A Texas KIDS COUNT special report, The High Cost of Dropping Out: How Many? How Come? How Much?, released today by the Center for Public Policy Priorities, examines this issue.

Frances Deviney presented the latest look at the state of Fort Worth/Tarrant County Children before more than 150 people at a breakfast briefing at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens.

KIDS COUNT Director Frances Deviney presented on the status of children on the Texas-Mexico border at at the 10th Annual Conference for the Texas Association of School-Based Health Centers in El Paso.