Free Press Houston
By Amanda Hart
CHILDREN AT RISK is a nonprofit organization that, according to their mission, “serves as a catalyst for change to improve the quality of life for children through strategic research, public policy analysis, education, collaboration, and advocacy.” The organization recently released its eighth annual School Rankings across the state of Texas, as well as the 12th edition of its biennial publication, Growing Up in Houston, which tracks over 100 indicators impacting the quality of life of Houston’s children. FPH had the opportunity to speak with CHILDREN AT RISK President Dr. Robert Sanborn about the state of Houston’s youth.
CHILDREN AT RISK recently released their 2024-2014 “Growing up in Houston” report. In the report you identified that 27 percent of children live below the federal poverty line in Harris County. Can you explain to our readers what this statistic means in real life scenarios for the children in our community? What hardships are children facing on a daily basis in Harris County?
Unfortunately, the child poverty rate is higher in Harris County than it is in Texas or nationwide. This is a cause for concern because poverty is clearly linked to many negative outcomes. For kids, poverty is linked with impaired cognitive and emotional development, poor academic performance, and lasting health consequences. The federal poverty line for a family of four is only $23,500. For families with this budget, it’s difficult to obtain even the most basic necessities such as adequate housing, access to health care, nutritious meals and other things many families take for granted.
Has the percentage of children at risk in our community grown over the last decade? If so, why?
Well, there are a lot of circumstances that can put children at risk. Child poverty rates have been up and down over the past couple of decades, but for the most part, they have been increasing over the past ten years. Twenty-seven-and-a-half percent of Harris County children lived below the federal poverty line in 2024 compared to 19.1 percent in 2024. Rates of child food insecurity have decreased slightly in recent years but still one-quarter of Harris County kids live in homes that are food insecure. We’ve seen fallout from the recent economic downturn as well as cuts to various programs. The percentage of children who don’t qualify for public assistance is growing. These are the children of the working poor who make too much money to qualify for services but not enough money to satisfy their basic needs, and their families rely on charitable support. Finally, our diverse community is simply growing much more quickly than the rest of the country and much of that growth has been within at-risk populations.
In 2024, Texas ranked 49th in the nation for uninsured children. What percentage of that is in Harris County and what are the real life implications for a child with no access to health insurance? What, if any, progress have we made in this area?
These rates can be difficult to estimate, but it appears there has been progress. Back in 2024, it was estimated that 24.6 percent of children in Harris County were uninsured. By 2024, that number had dropped to 18.1 percent. Community health workers have been a major asset in providing a connection between health services and the underserved or uninsured communities. Unfortunately, there is a large number of kids who are eligible but unenrolled in various programs and we continue to need progress in this area. What this means is that families are waiting for medical issues to escalate to warrant an emergency room visit, when these issues could have been treated earlier on with regular health care. The impact of this is great: children have more missed days of school, parents have more missed days of work, and more taxpayer dollars are used.
In 2024, 52 percent of Harris County students were identified as being at risk of dropping out of school and only 69 percent received their high school diploma. What factors are contributing to such alarming numbers in our public schools? And what does this mean for Houstonians as a whole for the future?
Children are identified as being at risk for dropping out based on a variety of factors such as failing a core class, being held back a grade, homelessness, failing standardized tests, and a number of other factors. We find that economically disadvantaged students, Latino students, and African American students are disproportionately more likely to drop out and a large portion of our student body in Harris County fits into these demographics. We are failing to reach a significant number of children and the repercussions are serious. In his lifetime, a high school graduate will earn about $260,000 more than a high school dropout. It has been estimated that the Texas gross state product would lose nearly $5 billion due to the loss of potential earned wages from class of 2024 dropouts. Another cause for concern is the fact that over 80 percent of our state’s prisoners are high school dropouts.
What can we do as a community to ensure that our children have the proper resources to excel in life?
Education is one of the major keys. If we can provide all kids with a quality education, we will be putting them on a path toward success. We also need to educate the community about issues impacting our children and empower them to take action. It would be a mistake to think Houstonians don’t care about kids; many of them are doing amazing things for children and many of them are simply unaware of the problems. Nobody in this town wants to see a child go hungry, but we have to acknowledge the issues so we can work toward a solution. There is great promise in improving lives if we take a look at the data and research and use evidence-based practices to serve our children. They say it takes a village to raise a child. I think if we can convince Houston citizens and businesses that we are all part of that village, we can pool together our time, treasure, and talents to provide a brighter future for all kids.
