KIDS COUNT - Puerto Rico

Overview

There is a need to develop a common set of measurable and integrated facts and figures about the current status of Puerto Rico’s children. Preliminary research and data suggest that Puerto Rico has a number of pressing issues that currently affect children including:

• Poverty
• Poor educational outcomes
• Asthma and other health risks
• Child abuse and neglect
• Teenage pregnancy
• Adolescent drinking
• Youth suicide and homicide

The KIDS COUNT Puerto Rico project is an effort to address the information gap in order to improve the health, safety, education, economic security, and development of Puerto Rico's children. By providing policy-makers and citizens with benchmarks of child well-being, KIDS COUNT Puerto Rico seeks to enrich local and national discussions of ways to secure better futures for all our children.

1. To provide independent, credible, comprehensive information on Puerto Rico's children.
2. To provide information and strategies on "what works" and promote best practices that will improve indicators of child well-being.
3. To stimulate dialogue on children's issues and bring together individuals and organizations to develop strategies and solutions to improve children's lives.
4. To promote information-based advocacy efforts to affect public policies and programs for the improvement of children's lives.
5. To facilitate the sharing of a common vision of the future of Puerto Rico’s children.

Puerto Rico CLIKS brings together data on the well-being of children and youth collected by KIDS COUNT - Puerto Rico Project at the Islandwide and municipio level.