By now, it is pretty much common knowledge that Latinos comprise the nation's largest minority group, both as a percentage of the population (17.6 percent) and as a percentage of school-age students (25 percent). That is, one in four K-12 students in the United States is Latino or Latina. While the related challenges are often overemphasized, the…

Explores the forces that will influence the number of children in foster care needing adoption and the number of families seeking to adopt in the next century. These forces are likely to challenge current policy and practice and place greater demands on the child welfare system that should be approached through a supply-and-demand perspective.…

This report examines trends in Wisconsin out-of-home care between 1988 and 1994. Chapter 1 of the report, "Out-of-Home Care Caseload Dynamics in Wisconsin," focuses on the disproportionate growth in the Milwaukee County caseload and seasonal variations. Chapter 2, "Characteristics of the Out-of-Home Care Population," reports…

The National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) includes several questions that can be used to assess sociodemographic risk. The NSAF is a national survey of more than 44,000 families, conducted as part of the Assessing the New Federalism project. Measures used to form an index of risk are: (1) single parenthood; (2) four or more children living…

Poverty rates increased in the early 1990s, but between 1994 and 1999 the metro child poverty rate declined 6 percentage points and the nonmetro rate declined 4 percent. In 1999, the poverty rate for nonmetro Black children was about double that of nonmetro White children, but the Black-White gap in poverty narrowed between 1985 and 1999. (TD)

This summary report describes the findings of a study undertaken in 1995 by the Academy for Educational Development, a nonprofit educational evaluation and research organization for the New York Women's Foundation. The major purposes of the study were to document the status of girls aged 9 to 15 in New York City, identify exemplary programs for…

About 26% of all children under age 18 live with a divorced or separated parent or with a stepparent. Since divorce is a crucial factor in the lives of millions of children in this country, this issue is devoted to its social, economic, and psychological impacts. (SLD)

As a contribution to the World Summit for Social Development, this UNICEF report argues that protecting and investing in children must be seen as integral to economic and social development and discusses the progress made to that end following the 1990 World Summit for Children. Chapter 1 discusses the effect of continued economic and social…

The living arrangements of American children have been strongly affected by revolutionary social changes in the past 30 years, including a large decrease in first-marriage rates and an increase in divorce. Each year more than one million children are affected by divorce. Statistics on divorce and social trends are presented. (SLD)

Although the Task Force on School Governance report claims that restructuring of school boards is essential to save the nation's failing schools, the real failure is society itself. Societal problems such as the nation's $4 trillion debt, air and water pollution, crime, drug abuse, and special interest lobbies abound, and legislators'…

Data explain causes of declining well-being among families with small children in terms of demography, economics, inadequate government programs, perverse government programs, family structure, neighborhood and community, and culture. Declining economic prospects for young male workers and accelerated movement toward single-parent families are the…

Cites statistics (illustrated in charts) that show overwhelming evidence that the status of children in the United States is threatened by social and economic forces including a changing family structure. Child advocacy groups recommend school-based services to help minimize adverse situations for children. (MLF)

Discusses worldwide economic and sociological dimensions of children's policy. Economic instability, budgetary policy changes, and social shifts have impoverished many children and severely constrained their life prospects. Proposes a New Ethic providing a "first call for children" in national and international policy, modeled after the…

The Missouri Children's Services Commission was created in 1983 to address children's needs through coordinated efforts. The commission has published this document with three purposes: (1) to present an outcome-oriented vision for Missouri's young people; (2) to summarize the broad range of conditions that affect the passage from childhood to…

This report on the well being of the children of Wisconsin is motivated in part by growing evidence of the adverse circumstances of many children today. The report is descriptive, rather than analytic, and does not attempt to explain relations among variables. Section 1, the introduction, is followed by county-based information in section 2 on a…