Children at Risk

Children at Risk is a Houston-founded 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on improving the quality of life and long-term prospects of children through research, public-policy analysis, education, collaboration, and advocacy. Established in 1989, the organization works primarily in Texas and has developed a public profile as a child-focused policy and research institution rather than as a direct-service charity alone. Its work has addressed human trafficking, food insecurity, public education, parenting, child-abuse prevention, early childhood education, juvenile justice, mental health, and the needs of Latino children. The organization’s operating model combines evidence gathering with public communication and legislative engagement. It researches social and educational conditions affecting children, translates findings for policymakers and the wider public, convenes professionals and community organizations, and advocates for changes in law, administrative practice, school policy, and public funding. Its mission is to make children’s needs a higher public priority and to support sufficient resources for children and families to thrive. Children at Risk’s human-trafficking work became a major area of activity during the 2000s. Beginning in 2007, it worked with state officials and partner organizations on anti-trafficking legislation, community education, professional training, and victim-protection measures. Its outreach included public-service announcements, press events, billboards, summits, continuing-education programs, and training for personnel who may encounter trafficking victims. The organization also helped develop or advocate for measures involving hotel and bar notices, statewide coordination, law-enforcement training, juvenile-justice alternatives, domestic-trafficking victim assistance, and trafficker liability. In education, Children at Risk publishes school-performance research and rankings intended to help families, schools, districts, and policymakers compare educational outcomes. Its analyses have covered elementary, middle, and high schools and have included public schools and charter schools. The organization has recognized high-performing charter networks while also drawing attention to persistently underperforming campuses. Its broader education agenda has included early childhood education, pre-kindergarten quality and funding, childcare coordination, expanded learning opportunities, recess policy, and improved public data systems. Its food-insecurity advocacy has included support for universal free breakfast in schools meeting a high-poverty threshold. The proposal was designed to increase participation, improve access to morning nutrition, and allow qualifying schools to use federal severe-need reimbursement rules. The organization has also worked on parenting and child-maltreatment prevention through population-based and evidence-informed approaches, including the Center for Parenting and Family Well-Being. Children at Risk created specialized centers to deepen its policy work. The Public Policy and Law Center, established in 2006, conducts legal and policy research, assists with legislative and administrative drafting, prepares amicus and impact-litigation materials, and provides professional education. The Center to End the Trafficking and Exploitation of Children was established in 2007 to address domestic minor sex trafficking through education, coalition building, advocacy, and efforts to reduce demand. The organization has also maintained a North Texas presence since opening an office in Dallas in 2011. Funding has come from grants, private donations, and fundraising events. Public-facing events have included Stand Up for Houston’s Children, the Accolades Luncheon, and the Charity Golf Classic. Leadership and governance have included a chief executive, a board of directors, and advisory bodies covering public policy, law, research, and North Texas activities. The organization’s historical materials identify Dr. Bob Sanborn as president and chief executive officer from 2005 and Dr. Charlotte Carlisle as managing director of the North Texas office. Current leadership should be verified against the organization’s latest filings or website.

Children at Risk began in Houston in the fall of 1989 as a child-advocacy organization concerned with making children’s needs more visible in public decision-making. Over time, it developed a model centered on strategic research, policy analysis, education, collaboration, and advocacy. Rather than limiting its work to one service area, the organization has periodically adjusted its priorities in response to emerging conditions affecting children and families in Texas. Its work has covered human trafficking, food insecurity, education, parenting, and child-abuse prevention. Earlier areas of concentration included juvenile justice, youth mental health, and the needs of Latino children. This broad portfolio reflects the organization’s view that child well-being is shaped by interconnected systems, including schools, courts, law enforcement, social services, health providers, families, and state agencies. A significant institutional development was the creation of the Public Policy and Law Center in 2006. The center grew from the organization’s research and advocacy activity and from calls for members of the legal profession to apply their expertise to children’s issues. Its functions have included legal and policy research, drafting legislation and administrative rules, preparation of amicus briefs and impact-litigation materials, and continuing education for attorneys and other professionals. In 2007, Children at Risk established the Center to End the Trafficking and Exploitation of Children. The center was designed to address domestic minor sex trafficking through public education, convening of nonprofit and community leaders, nonpartisan advocacy, and efforts to reduce demand while supporting victims. From 2007 onward, Children at Risk also worked with Texas officials and partner organizations to strengthen anti-trafficking laws. Its activities included research, proposed legislation, public-service announcements, press conferences, billboards, summits, legal education, and training for professionals such as child-protective-services staff, juvenile probation personnel, school counselors, social-work students, and law students. The trafficking agenda contributed to several policy changes in Texas, including required notices in certain businesses and lodging settings, a statewide task force, law-enforcement training, study of juvenile-justice alternatives for trafficking victims, a victim-assistance program for domestic trafficking, and rules addressing trafficker liability. The organization continued to identify additional legislative priorities, including record relief for victims convicted of nonviolent offenses connected to trafficking, improved data collection, action against online promotion of prostitution, and stronger local nuisance and abatement tools. Education became another central pillar. Children at Risk developed school rankings using multiple indicators differentiated by school level. The rankings were intended both as a resource for parents and students and as comparative information for schools and districts. Its public-education work examined charter-school performance, recognizing strong networks while highlighting clusters of low-performing campuses. The organization also advocated on early childhood education, childcare quality, pre-kindergarten funding, data coordination, expanded learning, and school health practices such as recess. On food insecurity, Children at Risk promoted a policy requiring schools with sufficiently high concentrations of low-income students to offer free breakfast to all interested students. The proposal aimed to reduce stigma, increase participation, and take advantage of federal severe-need reimbursement structures. In parenting and child-abuse prevention, the Center for Parenting and Family Well-Being pursued prevention-oriented and population-based approaches, supported by an academic advisory structure involving specialists in maltreatment prevention, public health, family demography, evaluation, and dissemination. The organization has also conducted work on juvenile mental-health courts, adult certification of juveniles, school-based Class C ticketing, and Latino children. Its mental-health research compared juvenile mental-health courts with incarceration and examined quality, cost, effectiveness, and expansion practices. Its juvenile-justice advocacy sought to reduce unnecessary transfer of children to adult courts and lessen the use of misdemeanor tickets for school behavior. Its Latino-children initiative included the Journal of Applied Research on Children, an open-access peer-reviewed publication intended to encourage research and policy attention to the experiences of Latino youth. Children at Risk opened a North Texas office in Dallas in 2011, broadening its geographic reach beyond Houston. It has funded its work through grants, private contributions, and fundraising events, including Stand Up for Houston’s Children, the Accolades Luncheon, and the Charity Golf Classic. Governance has involved a board of directors and advisory boards focused on public policy, law, research, and the North Texas office. The organization remains an active Texas child-advocacy institution, although details about its current leadership, programs, and operating footprint require confirmation from up-to-date organizational records.

• 2011

  North Texas office opened

  [1]Children at Risken.wikipedia.org

  A Dallas-area office was opened to extend the organization’s research and advocacy activities into North Texas.

• 2007

  Trafficking center established

  [1]Children at Risken.wikipedia.org

  The Center to End the Trafficking and Exploitation of Children was launched to coordinate education, advocacy, and community responses to domestic minor sex trafficking.

• 2007

  Texas anti-trafficking policy work intensifies

  [1]Children at Risken.wikipedia.org

  Children at Risk began sustained collaboration with public officials and other organizations to research and strengthen Texas anti-trafficking laws.

• 2006

  Public Policy and Law Center established

  [1]Children at Risken.wikipedia.org

  The organization created a legal and policy center to conduct research, draft legislation and rules, support impact litigation, and educate professionals.

• 1989

  Organization founded in Houston

  [1]Children at Risken.wikipedia.org

  Children at Risk began operations in Houston, Texas, with a mission centered on improving conditions and public policy for children.

A Texas child-advocacy nonprofit positioned at the intersection of applied research, public education, legal analysis, coalition building, and nonpartisan public-policy advocacy.

• Education research and rankings

  School Rankings

  A comparative school-information product designed for families, students, campuses, and districts. The methodology uses multiple indicators and varies by elementary, middle, and high school level. The rankings have covered Texas and Alabama schools and have been used to identify both high-performing institutions and campuses requiring greater attention.

• Research publication

  Journal of Applied Research on Children

  An open-access, peer-reviewed journal associated with Children at Risk’s effort to bring research attention to children’s issues, including the experiences and policy needs of Latino children.

• Legal and policy advocacy · 2006

  Public Policy and Law Center

  A specialized center providing legal and policy research, legislative and administrative drafting, amicus and impact-litigation support, and continuing education on children’s legal and policy issues.

• Human-trafficking advocacy · 2007

  Center to End the Trafficking and Exploitation of Children

  A center focused on domestic minor sex trafficking through community education, nonprofit coordination, policy advocacy, and initiatives intended to reduce demand and support victims.

• Parenting and prevention research

  Center for Parenting and Family Well-Being

  A center that promotes population-based and prevention-oriented approaches to parent education and child-maltreatment prevention, with academic advisers contributing expertise in evaluation, public health, family demography, and evidence-based programs.

• 2008Texas Child-Trafficking Awareness Outreach

  Houston · Dallas · Brownsville · Texas

  Children at Risk used press conferences, public-service announcements, billboards, media engagement, summits, and professional trainings to improve recognition of child trafficking and exploitation.

  Outcome. The campaign generated substantial media attention and trained community leaders and professionals who could identify or respond to trafficking victims.

  Source
• School Breakfast Access Advocacy

  Texas

  The organization advocated universal free breakfast at schools with very high concentrations of low-income students, using a threshold intended to support participation and federal severe-need reimbursement.

  Source
• Stand Up for Houston’s Children

  Houston

  An annual fundraising event benefiting the Public Policy and Law Center, featuring dinner, entertainment, and an auction.

  Outcome. The event supports the organization’s child-focused legal and policy work.

  Source

• 2007

  Make human trafficking a sustained policy priorityStrategy

  Background

  Children at Risk identified gaps in Texas law, data, training, and victim services relating to child trafficking and exploitation.

  Action taken

  It created a dedicated trafficking center, partnered with public officials and community organizations, and pursued research, education, training, and legislative proposals.

  Aftermath

  The work contributed to a range of Texas measures addressing notices, task-force coordination, law-enforcement training, juvenile-justice alternatives, victim assistance, and trafficker liability.

  Source

• 2006

  Institutionalize legal and policy advocacyStrategy

  Background

  The organization’s research and advocacy required legal expertise and more systematic legislative and administrative engagement.

  Action taken

  Children at Risk established the Public Policy and Law Center to combine legal research, drafting, advocacy, litigation support, and professional education.

  Aftermath

  The center became a dedicated platform for child-focused legal and policy work in Texas.

  Source

1. 1Children at Risken.wikipedia.org
2. 2Children at Risk official websitechildrenatrisk.org