The Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, Inc. is a nonprofit, multi-issue child and family advocacy agency. Headquartered in Madison and Milwaukee, the Council's mission is to promote the well-being of children and families in Wisconsin by advocating for effective and efficient health, education, and human service delivery systems. WCCF accomplishes this through educational conferences; on-going projects like W-2 Watch (Wisconsin's Welfare Reform), Wisconsin Budget Project, and Great Beginnings (our early childhood brain development initiative); and publications like the WisKids Count Data Books and Juvenile Justice Pipeline.

In the late 1980s, the West Virginia Human Resource Association published a landmark study of the plight of West Virginia's children. The report, called Children in Crisis, detailed the serious issues facing children and families in West Virginia and quickly gained the attention of the media, the public and, most importantly, gubernatorial candidate Gaston Caperton. During the 1988 election campaign, the Human Resource Association asked then-candidate Caperton to support the cause of at-risk children. In response to their plea, he agreed that, if elected, he would lead the charge to improve the lives of children in West Virginia.

The Human Services Policy Center (HSPC)'s mission is to improve the well-being of children, families and communities. We conduct policy and data analysis and provide training, technical assistance and consultation to further this mission.

Nonprofit and non-partisan, Voices for Virginia's Children is a persistent voice of reason in advocating for better lives and futures for children. The Commonwealth's only statewide multi-issue organization advocating for children and youth, Voices promotes sound, far-reaching program and policy solutions, focusing on early care and education, health care, family economic success, and foster care and adoption.

The mission of the Vermont Children's Forum is to promote public policy that enhances the lives of children and youth in Vermont. We are:
--Advocating
Looking out for kids when state policy makers spend
money and make laws.
--Organizing
Building a constituency for children and youth
--Researching
Providing data and analysis on the well-being of
children and youth and the conditions and issues that

Voices for Utah Children promotes sound, far reaching program and policy solutions that focus on early care and education, health care, child welfare and violence prevention.

The Texas Kids Count project is working to build a better understanding of the conditions facing all children in Texas. The Center for Public Policy Priorities is now hosting a comprehensive database of indicators of child well-being. The data are used to produce fact books and other analyses on the status of children in Texas. In addition to the fact books, the Texas Kids Count Project is producing a series of special reports.

The Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth is an independent agency created by the Tennessee State Legislature to:

Advocate for legislation, policies and programs to promote and protect the health, well-being and development of children and youth;

Provide regional councils for the exchange of information among those concerned about the needs and problems of children and to encourage mutual support and cooperation;

KIDS COUNT is a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. It is a national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the United States. The goal is to improve the collection of national, state, and local data on the well-being of children in a way that increases awareness of their situation and provides the means to address their needs.

The condition of South Carolina's children today determines what our state will be like tomorrow because children are our future. They are tomorrow's parents, our next generation of leaders, and the future workforce that must compete globally.

The primary determinant of a child's character,values, and desire to succeed is the family. Parents exercising their responsibilities to and making sacrifices for their children are essential to avoiding most of the problems described in this report. The efforts of families must be supported by community partners such as schools, religious congregations, businesses, and youth-serving organizations. Communities must provide for learning, set good examples, organize positive recreational activities, and develop recognized roles for young people. Thus strong, loving families, in partnership with supportive communities, must provide the solutions to the many difficulties experienced by so many children in our state. Government must be an effective partner, making its greatest contribution through reinforcing the role of families and communities, and by supporting services necessary for good health, learning, and preparation for adult responsibilities.