Executive Summary
Some 583,000?children under the age of 18 reside in the five core counties of the St. Louis region (St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and St. Charles County in Missouri and Madison and St. Clair Counties in Illinois).? This seventh edition of the Children of Metropolitan St. Louis (CMSL) report finds that large disparities continue to exist related to the health and well-being of our children.? Just over 172,000 children-almost 30% in this five-county area- reside in ZIP codes where risks to their well-being are severe.? An additional 35,000 children live in high risk ZIP codes.

Children who reside in the City of St. Louis are disproportionately impacted by the risks examined.? Of the 18 ZIP codes that make up the City of St. Louis, 13, or just over 72% have a severe risk ranking.? This compares to 23.3% of St. Clair County ZIP codes, 20% of ZIP codes that make up St. Louis County, 9.4% of Madison County ZIP codes, and no St. Charles County ZIP codes.

Risks to the health and well-being are most severe for minority children.? Of the 36 ZIP codes in this five-county region that have a minority population above the national norm of 32.2%, 27, or 75% fall in the severe risk category.? An additional five ZIP codes rank in the high risk category.? This translates into 88.8% of ZIP codes with a minority population greater than the U.S. average falling into the severe-to-high risk category.? All 13 of the St. Louis City ZIP codes which are in the severe risk category have a minority population greater than the national average.

In the past few years, through partnerships among the non-profit, social service, and government sectors, there have been many victories for children in the St. Louis region.? ?A few examples include: ?the Maternal/Child Health Coalition securing on-going funding to improve the health of children in the region; voters in Jefferson and St. Charles Counties and the City of St. Louis supporting the creation of taxes to fund services for children; the City of St. Louis receiving a $1 million Early Learning Opportunity Act grant to improve early learning and literacy for the very young; and Mayor Slay?s establishment of the Commission on Children, Youth and Families in the City of St. Louis. ?It is our hope that in the coming years these initiatives will produce better outcomes for those children most at-risk.

Working to improve the health and well-being of children and youth can no longer be addressed by non-profits and social service agencies alone.? The leadership, resources, and supports of the civic, business, philanthropic, and corporate sectors are needed to improve the future of our region by investing in children and youth.? Providing children with quality opportunities to learn, grow, and develop ensures that they will become healthy, productive members of our society.? That is essential to creating a more viable and sustainable St. Louis region. ???

Data highlights from each of the critical needs areas addressed by the Children of Metropolitan St. Louis report and the St. Louis Children?s Agenda initiative appear on the following page.