Texas Teens Cover - Senate

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY JANUARY 2001
Policy Implication: Increase efforts to gather data on juvenile victimization to obtain
more comprehensive picture of juvenile victims of crime, where crime victimization
occurs, and the impact of this victimization on the individual, the family, and the
community.
As is true in the national figures, the chance of being a murder victim increases
significantly for teens aged 15–19 years of age. And the trend of victimization
increases and peaks during the ages of 20–29 years. Similar to national trends,
males are many more times likely as females to be victims of murder beginning
in the early teen years.
Furthermore, young people from ages 15-24 are the primary perpetrators of
murder. And males are overwhelmingly more likely to murder than females.
The race of the victim was a significant factor in homicide statistics. Between
1988 and 1995, when blacks accounted for only about 15 percent of the juvenile
population, more black youths were murdered than white youths. The 1997
statistics show that black youths are five times more likely to be murder victims
than white youths are.
Chapter 9
The Role of Foundations and
Faith-based Organizations
Children and youth remained the single largest category of recipients of
foundation dollars, with their share of allocations rising to a record-high 20
percent. Grant dollars benefiting the economically disadvantaged, minorities,
women and girls, and men and boys showed the largest increase. The top 10
foundations doing philanthropic work in Texas hold over $6 billion in assets.
The philanthropic sector continues to invest in the future of at-risk teens, and to
assist those less able or those whose future looks bleak. Part of the increased
interest in faith-based organizations is a result of the “charitable-choice”
provision sponsored by Senator John Ashcroft of Missouri in Section 104 of the
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996
(Public Law 104-193). Enacted in August 1996, the federal welfare reform law
encourages states to involve community and faith-based organizations in
providing federally funded welfare services to the poor and needy and has set
federal and state government in a new direction.
Private foundations in the United States now hold over $330 billion in assets and
distribute more than $20 billion each year. Today there are more than 1.5 million
tax-exempt philanthropic and community service organizations in the United
States that receive more than $150 million in annual contributions. And some
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SENATE RESEARCH CENTER
Safe Passages: Texas Teens on the Road to Adulthood - xxviii