RECENT PUBLICATIONS
How did Children Fare in the 88th Texas Legislative Session?
Over the 140 days of the 2023 Regular Texas Legislative Session, approximately 11,800 bills were filed, and 4,550 passed. CHILDREN AT RISK showed up strong, registering support for bills 79 times, and providing expert testimony on legislation 29 times. In addition to...
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 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...
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...
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...
Petro-Proximate Learning in Texas
Media Contact: Rashena Flagg, 713.301.4577 Research shows petrochemical plants within close proximity to schools negatively impact a child’s performance. On April 25, CHILDREN AT RISK released a new report analyzing the proximity of petrochemical plants to...
The Quest for Equity & Quality |Research
Exposure to high-quality child care is the foundation for a child’s academic and social-emotional success, especially for children from low-income families. Increasing access to subsidized child care is one of the many strategies used to provide affordable early...
Rest & Resilience | Securing Children’s Well-Being Through Sleep
Sleep is an essential ingredient in children’s long-term health and development, yet at least 1 in 3 US children are not getting enough. In the most recent National Survey of Children’s Health, nearly 35% of children (ages 4 months – 17) received less than the...
Illicit Massage Business Toolkit
Illicit Massage Businesses (IMBs) use the cover of a legitimate service to engage in prostitution and often human trafficking by using force, fraud or coercion to compel the women working there to provide sexual services to the buyers who patronize these places. IMBs...
CHILDREN AT RISK Releases 2021 Annual Report
Since 1989, CHILDREN AT RISK has helped children overcome the challenges of growing up. We know that kids are at risk for many different reasons, including poverty, abuse and neglect, discrimination, lack of quality education, or healthcare access. That’s why our work...
Accountability for Buyers in the Commercial Sex Market | Brief
Texas House Bill 1540 went into effect this September. The bill is a key component of the 'Texas Model' to combat commercial sex - and its associated harms including the fueling of sex trafficking - through strengthening buyer accountability. The bill makes...
RESOURCES & DATA TOOLS
PUBLICATION ARCHIVE
Early Childhood Education
- Voices from the Field: Texas Child Care Providers Building Back Better (TX ECE Newsletter – Sept. 2021)
- COVID-19 Community Initiatives Supporting Children 0-5 and their Families (TX ECE Newsletter – Dec. 2020)
- Investment & Innovation: Increasing Access to Quality, Affordable Child Care Before & During a Crisis (2020)
- Early Childhood Apprenticeship Programs: Creating a Pipeline of Highly-Qualified Teachers (2019)
- Building Brains and Economies: Quality Child Care as an Engine for Economic Development in a 21st Century Texas (2018)
- Improved the Quality of Child Care Through Economies of Scale: A Look at Shared Services Approaches for Texas (2018)
- Pre-K in Texas: A Critical Component for Academic Success (2016)
- The Early Investment Project: Subsidized Child Care in Texas (2016)
- The State of Pre-K: Realities and Opportunities in Texas (2014)
K-12 Education
Human Trafficking
- The Sex Trafficking Marketplace: Addressing Demand through Legislation and Tactics (2015)
- The Texas Safe House Movement: An Examination of Restorative Shelter Core Components and Recommendations (2011)
- The State of Human Trafficking in Texas (2009)
- Slavery Out of the Shadows (TYLA video featuring former Senior Staff Attorney, Dawn Lew, and CEO, Dr. Sanborn)
Texas Legislative Resources
Child Health & Nutrition
- Universal School Breakfast and At-Risk Afterschool Meal Case Studies (2014-2018)
- Food for Every Child: The Need for Healthy Food Retail in the Greater Dallas Area (2015)
- School Breakfast Programs in North Texas and Across the State (2013)
- Roadmap for Encouraging Grocery Development in Houston and Texas (full report) 2012
Growing Up Publications
- Growing Up in Houston, 2017-2018
- Growing Up in North Texas 2016: A Community Assessment for Tarrant County
- Growing Up in Houston, 2014-2016
- Growing Up In Houston, 2012-2014
- Growing Up in Houston, 2010-2012
- The Future of North Texas Children: Assessing the Quality of Life of Our Children, 2012-2014
- The Future of Texas: A Report on the Status of Our Children, 2010-2012
- The Future of Fort Bend’s Children, 2012-2014
- Fort Bend County Assessment, 2013
- The Future of Fort Bend’s Children, 2010-2012
Immigration & New American Children
Juvenile Justice
Parenting & Family Well-Being
- Fatherhood Resources – National and Texas (2015)
- The State of Parent Education in Dallas County (2014)
- Triple P Parenting Pilot Evaluation (full report) (2014)
- A National Survey of Parent Support Legislation and Regulations (2014)
- Scaling Up Evidence-Based Parent Education in Houston, Texas (2013)
- Parents’ Perception of Parent Education Survey Results (2013)
- The State of Parent Education in Houston, TX, (2012)