Fourteen percent of the nation's population lives in rural communities, and one in five K-12 students attends a rural school. This is a substantial portion of the population, but it's far too often overlooked by education analysts, advocates, and policymakers. Rural communities tend to face some persistent challenges, including higher rates of…

Too many parts of the world are suffering from conflict and its repercussions. Millions of children and young people are at risk of not reaching their full potential. Before more decades of development efforts are undone and future progress is blocked, it is a moral obligation of society to collectively find ways to foster social cohesion among…

The gap between the levels of learning that education systems are providing and what children, communities and economies need, is growing. The breadth and depth of this learning crisis constitute the greatest global challenge to preparing children and adolescents for life, work and active citizenship. The lesson of the learning crisis is clear:…

Noting that the persistence of hunger and food insecurity in the United States is an issue of pressing social and public health concern, this study examined the magnitude and severity of hunger and food insecurity in U.S. households in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data were obtained from the August 1998, April 1999, and…

This report presents information on juvenile court processing of youth in the U.S. during 1974. It is based on data gathered under the National Juvenile Court Statistical Reporting System. Findings can be summarized as follows: (1) 1,252,700 juvenile delinquency cases, excluding traffic offenses, were handled by courts in the U.S. in 1974; (2) the…

Published jointly by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, this document presents information drawn from a nationally representative sample of state prisoners and from existing homicide data assembled by law enforcement agencies. It sheds new light on the most serious types of child abuse and…

This report and briefing book aim to inform Californians about the condition of the state's children in 1989. An initial set of anecdotes about Californian children and parents is followed by an overview, which discusses characteristics of the state's children, accountability in regards to spending on children and measuring their success, reasons…

Kids Count is a national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the United States. By providing policy-makers and citizens with benchmarks of child well-being, the project attempts to enrich discussions about ways to secure better futures for all children. This year's data book, the sixth annual edition, places a special…

The Kids Count project is an effort to track the status of children in the United States on a state-by-state basis. The benchmark figures presented give policymakers a clearer picture of the educational, social, economic, and physical well-being of children. High rates of child poverty and births to single teens continue in the United States, and…

This book provides an overview of economic trends and social issues in the 13 states and 399 counties of Appalachia, with emphasis on implications for families, children, and communities. It places the trends and issues of the Appalachian region within a national context. These trends include declining employment opportunities and wages, increased…

This first annual report of Minnesota KIDS COUNT focuses on key indicators of children's well-being and details the condition of children in each of Minnesota's 87 counties. Minnesota KIDS COUNT--as part of a campaign by Children's Defense Fund-Minnesota and Congregations Concerned for Children to end child poverty in Minnesota--collects,…

This publication offers an overview of the health of Hispanic Americans in the United States. Topics covered include the following: (1) Hispanic representation in health fields; (2) access to health care; (3) maternal and child health; (4) substance abuse; (5) Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and Hispanics; (6) Hispanic elderly; (7) migrant…

This KIDS COUNT report presents information on the status of Illinois children and highlights strategies used to improve the well-being of children and families. The first section, "Facing the Challenge," contains a series of conversations with experts detailing current programs to meet a six-point action agenda: (1) support new…

The South Dakota Kids Count Project began in 1993 with a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The goal is to improve the collection of national, state, and local data on the well-being of children in a way that increases awareness of their situation and provides the means to address their needs. South Dakota Kids Count tracks children using…

This report on the well-being of America's children focuses on the need for commitment to children by all sectors of society. The report's foreword describes the current situation for poor children in America, compares U.S. policies to those of other industrialized countries, presents the Action Agenda to Leave No Child Behind for 2000-2001, and…