Child Trends has released a research brief on Adverse Childhood Experiences: National and State-level Prevalence.  Traumatic events can have negative, long-lasting effects on the health and well-being of children. The research brief reports the prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences in the U.S. and among the states based on nationally representative data from the 2011/12 National Survey of Children's Health.  By far the most common Adverse Childhood Experiences, among children across the nation, were economic hardship and parental divorce or separation.  Alcohol abuse, mental Illness of a household member, and incarceration of a family member where also commonly experienced by children.  

How Austin Children Fare

Children's Optimal Health has overlaid the ten new Austin City Council Districts on top of some of their recent maps. Click on the map (left) to see this and other maps depicting the district-by-district incidences of child pedestrian and motor vehicle collisions, child injuries in motor vehicle accidents, oral health, medicaid eligible children, economically disadvantaged children, severe childhood obesity and other data.  Children's Optimal Health's unique mapping process dis-aggregates data at a neighborhood level; this is made possible due to partnerships with other agencies, such as the Austin Police Department and Austin ISD.    

Travis County's population is expected to grow by 50% from about 1 million today to 1.5 million by 2035. Growth in the unincorporated areas of the county is occurring at a faster rate than growth within the city limits of Austin. To help plan for the needs of a growing population, Travis County is developing a Land, Water and Transportation Plan to help identify where development should be encouraged, where conservation is needed, and how public and private investments can work together to encourage sustainable growth.

Public meetings are scheduled from September 17 - 24th at four different locations. There is also an online survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/lwtp2014 to solicit feedback on how Travis County can best accommodate the growing demands on our land, water and transportation systems.

HousingWorks Austin has released a 10-One district analysis of housing affordability.  The data for each district is depicted in an infographic.  Some of the data points included are: the number of subsidized housing units in the district, the percent of residents who rent vs. own their home, the median home price and the percent of people who are housing cost burdened, compared to the percent who are housing cost burdened city-wide.

The Housing Authority of the City of Austin (HACA) will open its wait list for Housing Choice Vouchers for eight days from October 22nd to October 29th. Pre-applications for the wait list will only be accepted on-line. At the end of the eight-day period, 2,500 applicants will be randomly selected by lottery and added to the wait list.  In adherence with federal policies, people nationwide will be able to apply for housing in Austin.  Due to extensive federal budget cuts, adequate funding is not available to serve all people who are qualified for housing assistance.   

HACA serves 5,800 families through the federally funded Housing Choice Voucher program. For more information about the qualifications for this program, visit www.haca.net or follow HACA on Facebook. 

changing minds one step at a time  

NAMI Walks is a nationwide community walk for mental health awareness on Saturday, September 27th beginning at 7:30 a.m. at the Long Center. Austin is one of more than 90 communities in the U.S. that will celebrate the walk. All proceeds from the walk will be used to fund NAMI's education, support and advocacy programs, which are offered at no charge to people in the Greater Austin area.