35,000 Kids at Risk

Piton Staff — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 17:54:07 +0000

Roughly 35,000 kids – representing two-thirds of the under-18 population – are living at risk in the Children’s Corridor. These kids were born to teen mothers or mothers without a high school education, or their family’s income near poverty the poverty level, qualifying them for free and reduced-price lunches. Because of these factors, these kids are less likely to perform well in school, putting them at a disadvantage when it’s time to enter the workforce.

We already know, from many different metrics, that the level of need in the Corridor is immense. This map simply puts that need into stark relief.

Using this map, we can identify areas that have the most vulnerable children in terms of sheer numbers (East Colfax/Original Aurora and Montbello) and in terms of the percent at-risk (Globeville/Elyria-Swansea and Montbello). One of the most striking things about this map is that Montbello and East Colfax/Original Aurora are among the top within the Corridor, no matter which way you look at it.

Taken as a whole, the Children’s Corridor stands out above the rest of Denver in that it has a higher concentration of children, and a higher percent of children who are vulnerable. That is, even if so many children were not at risk because of their family’s income of their mother’s education level, these neighborhoods would still be an areas of focus because they are so child-dense.

Here is the breakdown of vulnerable children by Corridor hub (using the 2010 Census population counts as a baseline):

In East Colfax and Original Aurora, 11,409 children, or roughly 73%, are at risk.
In Montbello, 8,946 children, or roughly 80%, are at risk.
In Green Valley Ranch, 4,940 children, or roughly 49%, are at risk.
In Stapleton, 473 children, or roughly 13%, are at risk.
In North and Northeast Park Hill, 2,469 children, or roughly 56%, are at risk.
In Globeville and Elyria-Swansea, 2,650 children, or roughly 80%, are at risk.
In Near Northeast, 4,061 children, or roughly 69%, are at risk.

When we expand the picture to include all of Denver and Aurora, here is what we see:

Download a printable PDF version of this map.

This map was made using October count data from Denver Public Schools and Aurora Public Schools for October 2010, as well as birth data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for 2006 through 2010.

The Health-Education Gap Crosses Generations

Piton Staff — Mon, 07 May 2012 21:01:53 +0000

Health and education levels are closely connected. What’s more, disparities in health and education cross generations: The education level of a child’s parents influence his or her success later on in life. Children whose parents haven’t completed high school have a higher risk of health problems during childhood and throughout life. Data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment show that among mothers over 20 in the Children’s Corridor in 2009, 36% had not completed high school.

This infographic explores what data reveal about the level of education of mothers in the Children’s Corridor, and what that means for the future health and education outcomes of their children.

Download a PDF version

The Children's Corridor » Birth Data

35,000 Kids at Risk

The Health-Education Gap Crosses Generations