Growing Up
BLOG POSTS, PRESS RELEASES, & ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM CHILDREN AT RISKFall 2023 Texas Tour Recap
Kaitlyn Newell, Associate Director of Early Education, speaks to a group of child care providers, policymakers, and business leaders in Midland, TX. Source: CHILDREN AT RISK(TX – November 16, 2023) – Each Fall the CHILDREN AT RISK Early Childhood Team sets out on our...
Harris County Commissioners Court Boosts Early Learning Initiatives with Child Care Quality Improvement Grants
Harris County Commissioners Court Boosts Early Learning Initiatives with Child Care Quality Improvement Grants The Harris County Early Learning Quality Networks Grants Empower Local Organizations to Amplify Their Voice in Education. (Harris County – October 19,...
Home for the Summer: Tips for Healthy Eating in Latine Families
Nutrition is an important part of a child’s development. Eating and maintaining a balanced diet helps improve cognitive ability and strengthen immunity. Poor nutrition leads to obesity and increases the risk of developing severe health conditions in the future. During...
How Parents Can Prevent Learning Loss and Build Student Skills Over the Summer
Most students probably agree that the best part of summer break is not having to go to class, do homework, or take tests. While these brain breaks can be great, the length of the summer break can lead to a lot of learning loss before the new school year. In fact,...
The Power of Immigrants that Texas Does Not Seem to Want to Understand
By Linda Corchado & Bob Sanborn The data is clear. A third of Texas’ nearly 8 million children are immigrants or the children of immigrants. In our cities, like Houston, the number is about half of our children. If children are our future then our path forward...
CHILDREN AT RISK Leads Learning Tour in Cuba
This past March, CHILDREN AT RISK led a learning tour to beautiful Havana, Cuba. Our staff and 21 guests spent five days meeting with various organizations, learning from the locals, and exploring the culturally and artistically vibrant capital of Cuba. The group left...
CHILDREN AT RISK Hosts The Future of Children Summit
The 2023 Future of Children Summit was introduced by Dr Robert Sanborn, President & CEO at CHILDREN AT RISK with Welcome Remarks The summit was broken down into seven sections that lasted 11 minutes followed by a brief Q&A led by Dr Bob and the speaker....
Access to Affordable High-Quality Child Care is Scarce
By Neomi Fletcher, Early Childhood Education, and Jacob Westjohn, Early Childhood Education (Note: Data sources are all publicly available from the Texas Workforce Commission, TEA, and Family Service. This report uses data from October 1st, 2021-September 30th, 2022.)...
CHILDREN AT RISK and Texas Family Leadership Council Host Second Annual Motherhood Summit
Last month, the Texas Family Leadership Council and CHILDREN AT RISK hosted the second annual Motherhood Summit. The summit explored some of the most pressing issues facing Texas mothers and how these issues affect not just themselves, but their children and families...
2023 Kroger School Food Rankings
Across Texas, over 5.4 million students were offered free school meals through federal programs, such as the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program. For many of these children, meals eaten at school are the only substantial meals they receive...
Growing Up In Houston: Assessing the Quality of Life of Our Children
Data must be the catalyst for any conversation regarding the well-being of our children. However, data alone is not sufficient. We must also overlay context to better understand the complexities of the many issues facing our children. Growing Up in Houston aims to do just that.
CHILDREN AT RISK and Texas Family Leadership Council Host Third Annual State of Black Children in Texas
On Thursday, February 16, the Texas Family Leadership Council and CHILDREN AT RISK hosted the third annual State of Black Children in Texas summit. The summit explored the challenges Black children face growing up in Texas and how to best support them at all stages of...
C@R Testifies to Senate Finance Committee on Education
CHILDREN AT RISK Releases 2022 Annual Report
2022 was a year of huge growth for CHILDREN AT RISK, both in our work and as an agency! In addition to our main office in Houston, we are proud to report C@R now has multiple staff members based in North Texas, Central Texas, and El Paso. Having this statewide...
The Latest on Kids and Social Media
By: Lauren Biegel, Asst. Director, Programs Social media is everywhere. Especially through COVID-19 sheltering, social media connects many of us to people across the world, and there’s a lot to love about it: funny videos, life hacks, and updates on friends we...
Talking to Your Kids About Racism
By: Blanca Torres, Intern The experience and memories you observe as a child often shape who you are as an adult. At our youngest, we are most vulnerable. Children who experience racism can have long-term effects and even trauma. For children, the effects of racism...
Op-Ed: Every student in Texas should access a free school meal
As published in Dallas Morning News, December 12, 2022. By Bob Sanborn and Laura HayesAccording to Feeding America, 1 out of 5 children in North Texas faces hunger due to limited resources, poverty and parental unemployment. Just like a car running out of gas, hungry...
Supporting Opportunity Youth for an Inclusive Economy
Despite a decades-long drop in the opportunity youth population, which decreased from 5.8 million to 4.4 million between 2011 and 2021, the number of opportunity youth rose dramatically during the pandemic to more than 6 million. The term opportunity youth (OY)...
Voices from the Field: Child Care Struggles Through COVID-19
Child care centers and family child care homes provide an indispensable resource to parents across Texas. Quality child care is crucial for the development and early education of young children. Despite the importance of this essential industry, child care centers are...
Education in Transition: Reshaping America’s Schools in a Post-Pandemic World
Reshaping America’s Schools in a Post-Pandemic World
REPORT: Classrooms in Crisis
COVID-19 changed our public education landscape nearly overnight. Thousands of Texas schools and nearly 5.5 million students faced a school year like never before. Schools had to quickly develop tools andresources that would support the pivot to a virtual classroom...
OP-ED: More Accountability for School Vouchers
As published in Dallas Morning News, August 31, 2022.Even as families are enjoying the first weeks of the school year, the challenges facing our education system remain more of the same. Many schools still have teacher vacancies and don’t have subject-certified...
Full STE(A)M Ahead Summit
This annual summit again dove into the issues of STEM education, focusing on building a robust and qualified pipeline of professionals in the wake of the pandemic.
C@R and Partners Present Third National Immigration Summit
This year, national advocates explored child-forward immigration policies, access to basic needs and mental health resources, education equity, and how to shift the narrative surrounding immigrants and immigration.On June 23, 2022, CHILDREN AT RISK hosted their third...
Experts Gathered to Discuss the Importance of Texas Mothers During May 5 Summit
Researchers and advocates gather to discuss federal and state policy implications maternal health outcomes, family planning, and economic justice at first-ever Texas Motherhood Summit.On May 5, Children at Risk and Texas Family Leadership Council (TXFLC) presented...