ST. CROIX, U.S. Virgin Islands – St. Croix Foundation for Community Development is pleased to announce that $18,900 in grants and scholarships have been awarded through the Lang-Wise STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Scholarship Fund in its inaugural grant cycles. Awards include an $8,400 grant to the St. Croix Rocketry Association and $10,500 in scholarships to five St. Croix graduates.

On Thursday, August 3rd, during a virtual presentation at St. Croix Foundation (SCF), four (4) scholarships were awarded in the first competitive cycle of the Lang-Wise STEM Scholarship Fund. The Fund was established in the fall of 2022 at St. Croix Foundation by St. Croix native and engineer, Raydiance Wise, to “pay forward” the support she received from multiple organizations when she herself was studying for her engineering degree. Recognizing that scholarships can help to cover significant costs associated with higher education (beyond tuition), this award is designed to encourage students to pursue STEM-related fields of study by offsetting costs related to travel, clothing, textbooks, and other unexpected expenses that become burdensome.

The Fund supports graduating seniors from public, private, or parochial schools on the island of St. Croix. Students who applied to the 2023 competitive scholarship cycle were required to submit transcripts, essays, and a video presentation demonstrating their knowledge of their chosen career path and the steps needed to acquire a degree. Each applicant was carefully considered by St. Croix Foundation’s Grants & Scholarships Review Committee using an equity-based framework. The following recipients were awarded scholarships between $500 and $3,000:

• Joscelin Torres, Texas State University, Major: Physics
• Wyatt Bracy, Northeastern University, Major: Criminal Justice/Cybersecurity
• Una Alexander, Howard University, Major: Biology
• Bry’Nice Berley, Nova Southeastern University, Major: Computer Science

In their applications, awardees acknowledged the rigorous coursework they would meet pursuing a STEM-related degree and demonstrated their ability to meet these challenges. Successful applicants also spoke of their desire to bring back their expertise to the U.S. Virgin Islands whether as a teacher or scientist. At the awards presentation, Joscelin Torres, a graduate of St. Croix Educational Complex and freshman at Texas State University, expressed, “I am honored to be a recipient. This scholarship brings positivity into our lives, and I aspire to do the same when I’m in a position to do so. Thank you, thank you!”

In its first official year, the Lang-Wise STEM Scholarship Fund has awarded a total of $18,900 in scholarships and grants. In December 2022, the Fund awarded a grant to the St. Croix Rocketry Association to support the first half of its 2023 programming, which includes weekly instructional workshops for junior high and high school students on St. Croix where they build and test rockets for speed and height. Students then compete in a national tournament. In 2022, students in the program took home two championship trophies and several medals. Also in 2022, the Fund reached back to a past scholarship recipient, Laurie Cedeno (graduate of St. Croix Central High School), with an opportunity to apply for an invitation-only scholarship to support her pursuit of a Nursing Degree at the University of Tampa. Now in her Junior year, Cedeno spoke of her goals to attend graduate school after receiving her Bachelor of Science degree and also expressed the importance of passion to sustain her through the challenges.

St. Croix Foundation is deeply privileged and encouraged by the growing number of funds being launched by native Virgin Islanders locally and abroad who are ‘reaching back’ to lift the banner of philanthropy in the Virgin Islands. St. Croix Foundation also wishes to extend its deepest appreciation to Donor (and Fund Advisor) Radiance Wise, Alice Wise, as well as the Foundation’s Grants & Scholarships Review Committee for their deep engagement in the grantmaking process.

For more information on the Lang-Wise STEM Scholarship Fund or to find out how to contribute, please contact St. Croix Foundation at 340-773-9898 or visit our website at www.stxfoundation.org.

ST. CROIX, U.S.V.I., July 20, 2023. St. Croix Foundation is pleased to announce that $20,000 in scholarships were awarded to four St. Croix youth on Tuesday, July 18th, during a virtual presentation at St. Croix Foundation (SCF), headquartered in Sunday Market Square. Scholarships were made possible through the Patrick and Amelia Williams Opportunity Fund, the St. Croix Educational Complex 20^th Anniversary Reunion Committee Fund and the Foundation Scholars Fund.

Now in its sixth year, the Patrick and Amelia Williams Opportunity Fund is administered annually by St. Croix Foundation and Donor Junior Gaspard (a St. Croix Native) to support the academic pursuits of St. Croix high school graduates. Acutely aware of the challenges facing young students as they navigate college life, such as snowballing tuition expenses, dwindling financial aid and rigorous coursework, for the past two years, scholarships have been awarded to 2021 award recipients. Through the Williams Opportunity Fund (and $3,000 in funding from the Foundation Scholars Fund), SCF’s Grants Review Committee awarded three (3) scholarships of $5,000 each to the following recipients in demonstration of SCF’s ongoing support as students moved into their third year at their respective places of study:

• Abigail Valery, Temple University, Major: Music Education
• Caliyah Helliger, Howard University, Major: Biology
• Sanaa Burke, University of Delaware, Major: Climatology/Meteorology

The St. Croix Educational Complex (SCEC) 20th Anniversary Reunion Committee Fund was established in the fall of 2022 by Anquanette Gaspard, a member of the St. Croix Educational Complex’s 20th Anniversary Reunion Committee and granddaughter of Patrick and Amelia Williams. In its inaugural scholarship cycle, the 20th Anniversary Fund awarded one $5,000 scholarship to Jayden Ferdinand, a graduate of St. Croix Educational Complex. Jayden will study Psychology at Penn State University in the fall.

The Patrick and Amelia Williams Opportunity Fund was established by Junior Gaspard, a graduate of Central High School and John H. Woodson Junior High School, in honor of his grandparents. Gaspard recalls the hard work and determination embodied in his grandfather’s spirit when he moved the entire family to St. Croix from St. Vincent. This, combined with his grandmother’s resilience as she courageously contended with the loss of her eyesight, provided a road map to overcoming challenges with strength and perseverance. Upholding the spirit of the Williams Opportunity Fund, Anquanette Gaspard, sister to Junior Gaspard and granddaughter of Patrick and Amelia Williams, also recognized an opportunity to increase support for St. Croix youth and established the SCEC 20th Anniversary Fund to encourage giving back to the next generation. Anquanette Gaspard, Advisor to the Funds expressed, “The Gaspard & Williams Families are beyond proud of this year’s recipients of the Patrick & Amelia Williams Opportunity Fund. These bright young women continue to persevere and thrive in their college endeavors, and we are grateful for the opportunity to continue to lend our support. Having Jayden as the first recipient of the St. Croix Educational Complex 20th Anniversary Fund was an honor. He depicts much of what our class embodies: determination, perseverance and strength. We look forward to seeing everything he will accomplish in the future.”

Each 2023 recipient of the Williams Opportunity Fund was required to demonstrate progress by submitting a formal application that included transcripts, letters of reference, and a four-minute video presentation in which candidates were asked to speak candidly about their majors, and the obstacles they have encountered as they get nearer to graduation. Recipients were also asked to reflect on how they have changed over time, and to share any new habits/routines they have acquired that would surprise their younger “high school selves.”

In his application for the 20th Anniversary Fund, Jayden Ferdinand also submitted a brief video presentation as well as an essay, references, and transcript – all which demonstrated a passion for his field of study and the steps he expects to take to become a clinical psychologist.

To date, the Patrick and Amelia Williams Opportunity Fund has awarded a total of $71,000 in scholarships to 11 students who have had to overcome unprecedented difficulties throughout their high school tenure and early university education. As stated by Caliyah Helliger, rising Junior and scholarship recipient of the Patrick & Amelia Williams Opportunity Fund, “I am beyond grateful and humble to be a recipient of this scholarship for third consecutive year. The Gaspard family and St. Croix Foundation have been at my side on this journey since I left high school and it’s amazing to have that support.”

St. Croix Foundation extends its deepest appreciation to the Gaspard family and the St. Croix Educational Complex 20^th Anniversary Reunion Committee for their partnership and philanthropic spirit, as well as the Foundation’s Grants & Scholarships Review Committee for its engagement and DIAM Management for its contributions to the Foundation Scholars Fund. St. Croix Foundation welcomes donations to The Patrick and Amelia Williams Opportunity Fund, SCEC 20^th Anniversary Fund and Foundation Scholars Fund to support additional students as they pursue their education.

For more information on how to support these special scholarship opportunities, please contact St. Croix Foundation at 340-773-9898 or visit our website at www.stxfoundation.org to learn more.

ST. CROIX, U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) – Recent national data indicates that child care in America has become “inaccessible and unaffordable,” according to the 2023 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, a 50-state report of recent household data developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation analyzing how children and families are faring. (Note that the U.S. Virgin Islands is not included in the National KIDS COUNT® Data Book as it draws data from the American Community Survey, which is not conducted in the territory.) The annual report also sheds light on other challenges, including those surrounding education, health, and the economy that are affecting American children. Each year, the Data Book presents national and state data from 16 indicators in four domains — economic well-being, education, health, and family and community factors — and ranks the states according to how children are faring overall.

To supplement available national data, each year the KIDS COUNT USVI team publishes a Data Book focused specifically on the USVI that reports available data aligned with the four domains of the national Data Book.

As published in the 2022 KIDS COUNT USVI Data Book, there was an increase in the percentage of WIC-receiving mothers who reported breastfeeding, from 60% in 2020 to 72% in 2022. This represents the highest breastfeeding percentage of all WIC State agencies in Fiscal Year 2021, according to the US Department of Agriculture. (WIC – the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children – provides federal grants to states for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age 5 who are found to be at nutritional risk.) While the data is specific to mothers enrolled in WIC, this high rate is a bright spot for our community. Benefits of breastfeeding include giving infants a healthier start with a stronger immune system, in contrast to a heavy reliance on formula products, which left many mothers without viable options during recent supply shortages in the 50 states.

Of course, access to early childhood education and child care options are key for working parents. According to the USVI KIDS COUNT Data Book, 112 USVI children participated in Early Head Start and another 582 students were enrolled in Head Start. Additionally, there were 102 students in public school Pre-K programs. Taken together, this accounts for 18% of children under age 5 in the USVI (there were 4,468 children under 5 in the USVI per the 2020 Census). Unfortunately, this leaves 82% of children under age 5 who are not attending affordable Pre-K nor enrolled in a licensed child care facility, a gap which is likely to leave parents facing difficult choices about care options should they need or desire to work outside of the home.

The 2023 KIDS COUNT® Data Book further reports that too many parents cannot secure child care that is compatible with work schedules and commutes. For example, in 2020—21, 13% percent of children under age 6 had a family member who quit, changed, or refused a job because of problems with child care. And women are five to eight times more likely than men to experience negative employment consequences related to caregiving. Even if parents can find an opening at child care near their home, they often can’t pay for it. The nation’s average cost of center-based child care for a toddler in 2021 was $10,600, one-tenth of the median income of a married couple.

In the USVI, the median cost of center-based child care was approximately $6,000 annually, according to a USVI Department of Human Services survey published in 2022. This represents 15% of the median household income in the USVI as reported from the 2020 Census. According to the national Data Book, shortcomings of the child care system disproportionately affect the financial well-being of women, single parents, parents in poverty, families of color, and immigrant families.

While the cost of care burdens families, child care workers are paid worse than 98% of professions. Median national pay for child care workers was $28,520 per year or $13.71 an hour in 2022, less than the wage for retail ($14.26) and customer service ($18.16) workers. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, the mean annual wage for child care workers is $26,430, according to the USVI Department of Labor.

The failings of the child care market also affect the current and future health of the American economy, costing $122 billion a year in lost earnings, productivity and tax revenue, according to one study. All of these challenges put parents under tremendous stress to meet the dual responsibilities of providing for their families and ensuring their children are safe and nurtured.

According to Casey, transitioning from a faltering child care system to creating a flourishing one will take new thinking and investing at the local, state, and national levels. An executive order issued by President Biden in April is aimed at expanding access, lowering costs, and raising wages. It could prove to be a helpful framework, but more is needed:

• Federal, state, and local governments should invest more in child care. State and local governments should maximize remaining pandemic recovery act dollars to fund needed child care services and capacity. Congress should reauthorize and strengthen the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act and increase funding for public pre-kindergarten and Head Start.
• Public and private leaders should work together to improve the infrastructure for home-based child care, beginning by lowering the barriers to entry for potential providers by increasing access to start-up and expansion capital.
• To help young parents, Congress should expand the federal Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program, which serves student parents.

St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands – St. Croix Foundation for Community Development will be hosting its 5th Annual Philanthropy Retreat February 16th through February 18^th, 2023, on the island of St. Croix. Entitled THE POWER OF PLACE: Reframing Old Paradigms in Philanthropy to Build Radical New Systems of Equity Rooted in Place, the invitation-only convening will connect National and Regional Senior Philanthropy Executives with Board and Staff of the Foundation’s Nonprofit Consortium, a coalition of approximately 30 St. Croix Nonprofits.

This year’s convening will feature guests and speakers from across a diverse philanthropic landscape, including Association of Black Foundation Executives, Black Belt Community Foundation, The Bridgespan Group, Foundation for Appalachia Kentucky, Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust, Global Giving, The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and more. Members of St. Croix Foundation’s Nonprofit Consortium, Crucian Heritage and Nature Tourism, St. Croix Environmental Association, and the Virgin Islands Good Food Coalition will lead a panel focused on collective impact and environmental justice, with other local nonprofit partners hosting island tours, site visits, and an opening reception dinner.

As a vehicle for engaging national funders and exposing them to the unique realities of the U.S. Caribbean, the 3-day retreat will offer national and international funders the opportunity to learn about the inherent challenges and assets of the territory’s social and economic landscape. The theme for this year’s convening is centered on the power of place-based philanthropies to achieve deeper and more systemic social impact and equitable outcomes for marginalized communities. The retreat will also explore and challenge philanthropy’s current paradigm, which often serves as a ‘funding-gatekeeper’ that prevents the (equitable) flow of resources to those closest to the ground.

Over the course of several days, St. Croix Foundation will lead its local nonprofit partners and foundation guests in a focused conversation around the impact of community-rooted collaboration to leverage scarce resources before, during and after a crisis for the most vulnerable among us; the vital role of place-based philanthropies to support (and drive) sustained social change; and the need for the field of philanthropy itself to evolve in order to effectively meet today’s needs.

According to St. Croix Foundation President, Deanna James, “From our inception, St. Croix Foundation has been committed to honing competency around deep civic discourse and the disruption of old outdated paradigms that no longer serve the People and the Places in which we invest. Over the course of our upcoming 3-day convening, we are excited to unveil our new Theory of Change for the field of Philanthropy that we believe could have far-reaching impact.” James continued.

St. Croix Foundation first launched its Philanthropy Retreat in 2017, one year after conducting a donor study that revealed some striking data points about St. Croix’s philanthropic landscape. One finding was that the majority of the donors interviewed were more inclined to provide “charitable” gifts to nonprofits (often below $10,000) as opposed to transformational philanthropic giving that could stabilize and advance organizations’ missions and programmatic agendas.  The Foundation’s study uncovered yet another trend, namely that a number of corporate and EDC donors, while making transformational gifts (i.e., 6 and 7 figures) to stateside nonprofits, were not engaged in that level of giving locally. Compounding local donor trends is the fact that most national funders have historically not recognized the U.S. Caribbean as a philanthropic priority, deeming this territory, in particular, to be either international or irrelevant because of our small population and political status.

All of these patterns have ultimately had a significant impact on the operational stability of nonprofits, many of which are serving a community with expanding needs and fewer philanthropic resources, forcing many to be overly dependent on government funding to survive. In response to this data, the Foundation launched their Nonprofit Consortium shortly after the study in 2016, to convene local nonprofits around a collective agenda of building organizational capacity and collaborating around shared missions and programming for exponential impact. St. Croix Foundation’s Philanthropic Retreat consequently serves as an opportunity for the Foundation to advocate for greater equity and inclusion for St. Croix.

To date, the national partnerships being nurtured have generated over $3,000,000 in funding for St. Croix nonprofits, and the Foundation has also connected local nonprofits to relevant intellectual brain-trusts and funding networks in targeted ‘sectors’ including arts & culture; the environs; health & human services; and youth & education. Two noteworthy partnerships include the HIVE Fund and Global Giving, both of which represent some of the nation’s most prominent funders in their respective fields.

St. Croix Foundation extends its sincere gratitude to its local, national, regional, and international partners (new and veteran) who have made this convening possible, as well as lead sponsor, the Virgin Islands Department of Tourism. For more information on the 5^th Annual Philanthropy Retreat or how to support the Foundation’s efforts, please call the Foundation’s office at 340.773.9898 or visit their website at www.stxfoundation.org. 

About St. Croix Foundation

Established in 1990, the Foundation has served as a conduit of over 42 million dollars in funding for community-based projects throughout the Virgin Islands. With an incomparable track record of successful community development initiatives and national recognition for its work in education reform and small business development, the Foundation has also received international acknowledgment for its community revitalization initiatives and, today, continues directing its focus on holistic community building and development, policy research and data collection, and the broad-based support of nonprofits, including fiscal sponsorship, grantmaking, and the Nonprofit Consortium.

 

St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands – St. Croix Foundation for Community Development (SCF) is pleased to announce that our 2022 KIDS COUNT USVI Data Book, entitled “From Silos to Systems: Pathways to Child Well-being in the USVI,” was released on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, at 11:00 AM AST during a Virtual Community Stakeholder Presentation open to the public.

A national initiative of the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF), KIDS COUNT has evolved into one of the largest, long-standing data repositories in the United States focused on the status of children and families.  A national network of nonprofits, foundations, and consortia from all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, KIDS COUNT is seen as a vital means of providing critical data about child well-being for many federal, state, and local government agencies.

During its virtual data presentation on Dec. 14, 2022, SCF’s KIDS COUNT Team provided an overview of the 2022 USVI Data Book to Government and Nonprofit Partners and Community Stakeholders.  The Data Book comprehensively reports on the status of U.S. Virgin Islands youth in four primary domains: Family and Community, Education, Health, and Economic Well-being. Additionally, KIDS COUNT USVI includes spotlights on Opportunity Youth (ages 16-24) and Community Bright Spots, which incorporates the territory’s nonprofit sector as a vital component of the USVI’s system of supports for children. An electronic copy of the Data Book is available at https://bit.ly/2022KidsCountUSVI. Interested parties may watch a recording of the presentation by visiting St. Croix Foundation’s YouTube page at ​​https://youtu.be/RXJcWEdxn-E.

The KIDS COUNT USVI Data Book includes data collected from the most current available data sources from the public and private sector throughout the territory. This year’s data book reports on conditions across all ages of childhood, with a special focus on adolescent “opportunity” youth in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Some of the data is stark: 33% of children in the USVI are living in poverty. Among children five years of age and younger, poverty rates are higher across the territory: on the island of St. Croix, the poverty rate for children in this age group is 42%. But there are also incredible Bright Spots throughout the territory. Civic organizations such as My Brothers Workshop, Caribbean Center for Boys and Girls of the VI, Women’s Coalition of St. Croix, and many more are transforming the lives of youth in our community each day.

This year’s KIDS COUNT USVI Data Book frames the data around “Systems-thinking” to encourage collaboration across sectors and connect seemingly disparate data domains to better inform policy, programs, and services. St. Croix Foundation President and CEO of St. Croix Foundation, Deanna James, stated, ”While there is much to be done in order for our children and families to truly thrive, our team has spent the better part of two years connecting the dots – first to understand each system as it exists, and then to identify potential opportunities to build newer more intersected systems.”

St. Croix Foundation extends its deepest appreciation to the Annie E. Casey Foundation and to its many local partners from the public, private and civic sectors for their collaboration and commitment to children and families in the U.S. Virgin Islands.  The Foundation also thanks Global Giving for its generous, unwavering support of our work as well as the Office of the Governor. Questions about the initiative should be directed to President Deanna James of St. Croix Foundation at 340.773.9898 or djames@stxfoundation.org.

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St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands – St. Croix Foundation for Community Development (SCF) is pleased to announce the release of the 2022 KIDS COUNT USVI Data Book on Dec. 14, 2022, at 11:00 AM AST during a Virtual Community Stakeholder Presentation.

A national initiative of the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF), KIDS COUNT has evolved into one of the largest, long-standing data repositories in the United States focused on the status of children and families. A national network of nonprofits, foundations, and consortia from all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, KIDS COUNT is seen as a vital means of providing critical data about child well-being for many federal, state, and local government agencies.

During the virtual presentation on the 14th, SCF’s KIDS COUNT Team will provide an overview of the 2022 USVI Data Book to Government Partners and Community Stakeholders. The 2022 KIDS COUNT Data Book comprehensively reports on the status of U.S. Virgin Islands youth in four primary domains (Family and Community, Education, Health, and Economic Well-being). An electronic copy of the Data Book will be distributed to all registered participants. Parents, educators, nonprofit organizations, policy makers, and public administrators are likely to find the information in this year’s Data Book particularly useful.

Interested parties may register for the Presentation at: http://bitly.ws/xzPE. There is no cost to attend and all are welcome.

The KIDS COUNT Data Book includes data collected from the most current available data sources (including Governmental as well as Nonprofit) throughout the Territory. One targeted population that the KIDS COUNT Team seeks to highlight is an often-overlooked subpopulation of our children – adolescents.

President and CEO of St. Croix Foundation, Deanna James, stated: ”As we step into the 3rd year of St. Croix Foundation’s stewardship of KIDS COUNT in the Virgin Islands, our KC Team is growing increasingly optimistic about the potential to measurably move the proverbial needle on the well-being and welfare of children and families in the Territory. Undoubtedly, our optimism is tempered by the challenges before us, including data system deficiencies, and the incoherence of the existing support systems underneath and around our children. Still, there are several bright spots that keep us hopeful.”

St. Croix Foundation extends its deepest appreciation to the Annie E. Casey Foundation and to its many local partners from the public, private and civic sectors for their collaboration and commitment to children and families in the Virgin Islands. The Foundation also thanks GlobalGiving for its generous, unwavering support of its work. Questions about the initiative should be directed to President Deanna James of St. Croix Foundation at 340.773.9898 or DJames@stxfoundation.org

St. Croix, US Virgin Islands – October 27, 2022 – St. Croix Foundation for Community Development is pleased to announce the return of the St. Croix Food & Wine Experience (FWE)!  After a 2+ year hiatus due to COVID-19, this beloved celebration of the culture and cuisine of St. Croix is back for 2022 with one of the FWE’s most popular events, Wine in the Warehouse, at Bohlke International Aviation on Thursday, December 1, 2022 from 6:00-9:00 PM.

Featuring delectable food from Chopped Champion and James Beard Fellow Shacafrica Simmons, better known as Chef Shac, as well as some of St. Croix’s best chefs and caterers, complemented by fine spirits from Coca Cola 1 – all set against the sleek backdrop of live music and Bohlke International Aviation’s fleet of jets – Wine in the Warehouse is the perfect way to ring in the holidays.

According to St. Croix Foundation President, Deanna James, “We are excited to bring back this beloved community event as a means of raising both spirits and funds to support the Foundation’s critical community development work.” James continued, “As we prepare to lead some of the most deeply impactful work in our organization’s history, the revenue generated from Wine in the Warehouse will be leveraged many times over and reinvested into the community to support the Foundation’s territory-wide mission of social, economic, and educational transformation.”

Tickets for the event are $150 per person and will be available for purchase beginning on Thursday, November 1, 2022 at http://www.stxfoodandwine.com.

St. Croix Foundation would like to extend its deepest appreciation to the Virgin Islands Department of Tourism, as well as to early sponsors Bohlke International Aviation, The Buccaneer Hotel and CC1. SCF also invites additional corporate citizens to become event partners and sponsors. For more information on how to become a sponsor, please contact 340-773-9898 or email lcox@stxfoundation.org.

For information about tickets, events, and sponsorship visit http://www.stxfoodandwine.com or call the St. Croix Foundation office at 340-773-9898.

St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands —Recent national data indicates children in America are experiencing a mental health crisis, struggling with anxiety and depression at unprecedented levels according to the 2022 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, a 50-state report of recent household data developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation analyzing how children and families are faring. While the U.S. Virgin Islands is not yet included in the National Data Book, the annual report focuses this year on youth mental health, indicating that youth rates of mental health issues have increased through COVID-19 and concurring with a recent assessment by the U.S. Surgeon General that conditions amount to a youth mental health pandemic. The National Data Book also sheds light on other challenges, including those surrounding health and the economy, that are affecting American children.

The report also indicates that children across America, and in more than 40 states and the District of Columbia, were more likely to experience anxiety or depression during the first year of the COVID-19 crisis than previously, with the national figure jumping 26%, from 9.4% of children ages 3-17 (5.8 million kids) to 11.8% (7.3 million) between 2016 and 2020, the year COVID-19 swept across the United States. This increase represents 1.5 million more children who are struggling to make it through the day.

In the 2021 KIDS COUNT USVI Data Book published in December of 2021, St. Croix Foundation reported on data from the 2018 USVI Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which indicated that 22.5% of middle schoolers seriously considered suicide, and among high-school respondents, 35.5% “felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for 2 or more weeks that they stopped doing some usual activities.” President Deanna James of St. Croix Foundation, the steward of the KIDS COUNT USVI Initiative, stated that “As signs of anxiety and depression, this data, collected in the aftermath of Category Five Hurricanes Irma and Maria is an urgent call-to-action for our community to collaborate around robust systems and wrap-around programming to support our children as they navigate a rapidly changing and complex environment.”

Racial and ethnic disparities contribute to disproportionately troubling mental health and wellness conditions among children of color. Nine percent of high schoolers overall but 12% of Black students, 13% of students of two or more races, and 26% of American Indian or Native Alaskan high schoolers attempted suicide in the year previous to the most recent federal survey. Further, many LGBTQ young people are encountering challenges as they seek mental health support. Among heterosexual high school students of all races and ethnicities, 6% attempted suicide; the share was 23% for gay, lesbian or bisexual students.

The release of the 2022 National KIDS COUNT Data Book underscores the need for the Virgin Islands to advocate for and develop a robust data infrastructure to ensure consistent and timely data collection instruments, such as USVI Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) and the Virgin Islands Community Survey (VICS), are administered. While the USVI does not have more current YRBS data to fully understand how COVID-19, compounded with protracted recovery from the hurricanes, has affected children in the territory, we know that after experiencing five years of disruptive crises impacting their home, school, and community life, as a predominantly Black community, trends suggest that many youth in the Territory may be struggling with behavioral and mental health challenges. Current and consistent YRB data, for example, will provide a longitudinal view to fully understand how COVID-19 and recovery from the hurricanes are affecting children in the territory. The result is the Virgin Islands’ collective ability to identify targeted supports and interventions for the children, families and communities that are most in need. As St. Croix foundation works to strengthen the connectivity across vital systems in the public and nonprofit sectors, there is increasing awareness and commitment to sharing timely and accurate data that reflects in real-time how children in the U.S. Virgin Islands are faring and provides a collective vision and roadmap going into the future.

Each year, the KIDS COUNT National Data Book presents national and state data from 16 indicators in four domains — economic well-being, education, health, and family and community factors — and ranks the states according to how children are faring overall. The data in this year’s report are a mix of pre-pandemic and more recent figures and are the latest available.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation calls for lawmakers to heed the surgeon general’s warning and respond by developing programs and policies to ease mental health burdens on children and their families. They urge policymakers to:

• Prioritize meeting children’s basic needs. Youth who grow up in poverty are two to three times more likely to develop mental health conditions than their peers. Children need a solid foundation of nutritious food, stable housing and safe neighborhoods — and their families need financial stability — to foster positive mental health and wellness.
• Ensure every child has access to the mental health care they need, when and where they need it. Schools should increase the presence of social workers, psychologists and other mental health professionals on staff and strive to meet the 250-to-1 ratio of students to counselors recommended by the American School Counselor Association, and they can work with local health care providers and local and state governments to make additional federal resources available and coordinate treatment. (Local data from VIDE indicate that public schools are near or within this recommended ratio, with a 247-to-1 ratio of students to guidance counselors in the St. Thomas/St. John District, and a 164-to-1 ratio in the St. Croix District.)
• Bolster mental health care that takes into account young people’s experiences and identities. It should be trauma-informed — designed to promote a child’s healing and emotional security — and culturally relevant to the child’s life. It should be informed by the latest evidence and research and should be geared toward early intervention, which can be especially important in the absence of a formal diagnosis of mental illness.
• St. Croix Foundation’s USVI KIDS COUNT Team, publishes a local Data Book annually, with the next release expected in Fall 2022.

RELEASE INFORMATION 

The 2022 KIDS COUNT® Data Book is currently available at www.aecf.org. Additional information is available at www.aecf.org/databook. Journalists interested in creating maps, graphs and rankings in stories about the Data Book can use the KIDS COUNT Data Center at http://datacenter.kidscount.org. 

ABOUT ST. CROIX FOUNDATION 

Established in 1990, St. Croix Foundation has served as a conduit for over 42 million dollars in funding for community-based projects throughout the Virgin Islands. With an incomparable track record of successful community development initiatives and national recognition for its work in education reform, small business development, and public-private partnerships, the Foundation has also received international acknowledgment for its community revitalization initiatives and, today, continues directing its focus on holistic community building and development, policy research and data collection, and the broad-based support of nonprofits, including fiscal sponsorship, grantmaking, and the Nonprofit Consortium. 

ABOUT THE ANNIE E. CASEY FOUNDATION 

The Annie E. Casey Foundation creates a brighter future for the nation’s young children, youth and young adults by developing solutions to strengthen families, build paths to economic opportunity and transform struggling communities into safer and healthier places to live, work and grow. For more information, visit www.aecf.org. KIDS COUNT® is a registered trademark of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. 

St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands – Black Philanthropy Month is pleased to invite community stakeholders to register for its 2022 Annual Summit: “Fierce Urgency of Now: From Dream to Action,” a global, virtual (with hybrid options) convening with six distinct events over six dates in August. Each session in the Summit is led by prominent funders and thought leaders from distinct regions of the Black Diaspora. Keynotes and respondent panels spotlight issues and strategies that are working to promote funding equity for Afro-descendant people worldwide. Each day of the Summit is designed to cultivate community and identify actionable principles for equitable, impactful funding of Black communities ravaged by racism, Covid, and recession. The Global Kick-Off for the conference began August 3rd, with sessions scheduled on the 4th, 9th, 10th, 17th, and 31st.  Online registration is available at BPM 2022 US Global Summit Kick Off – Aug 03 | Hopin.

On August 17, 2022, from 1:00 – 2:30PM AST, St. Croix Foundation and the Fundación Comunitaria de Puerto Rico will lead the Caribbean Session of the Black Philanthropy Month Conference in a progressive (virtual) panel discussion entitled: “Funding for Equity: Decolonization and Reparative Justice Investments in the Caribbean.” Moderated by Dr. Marissel Hernández Romero, Director of Racial Building Equity Institute of the Americas at Fundación Comunitaria de Puerto Rico, panelists will include Susan Taylor Batten, President of the Association of Black Foundation Executives, Olga Chapman Rivera, Founder and Chief Go-Getter at BRAAVE, and Deanna James, President of St. Croix Foundation. Featured Keynote Speaker Dana Francois of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation will offer insight on some of the more current regional conversations, around decolonization and reparations, as well as the role of philanthropy around reparative justice funding throughout the Diaspora (USA, the Caribbean and Africa).

Black Philanthropy Month, now in its 11^th year, is today a program of The Women Invested to Save Earth Fund, which culminates in a multinational summit every August in a global celebration and concerted campaign to elevate African-descent giving and funding equity. Incubated in 2001 by its Founder Dr. Jackie Bouvier Copeland, with the support of Reunity, formerly the Pan-African Women’s Philanthropy Network, BPM launched in 2011 with its first official global summit to commemorate the United Nations Year and Decade of People of African Descent. Today, Black Philanthropy Month has 9 million people engaged across 60 countries, making it the “world’s only global Diasporan community coalition and movement to celebrate and empower Black funding in all its forms…”

St. Croix Foundation and Fundacion Communitaria De Puerto Rico would like to invite nonprofits, policymakers, and global funders, to register today at BPM 2022 The Caribbean – Aug 17 | Hopin. Appreciation is extended to all panelists and the organizers and sponsors of Black Philanthropy Month. For more information on all sessions, please visit BPM 2022 US Global Summit Kick Off – Aug 03 | Hopin and for details on the Caribbean Session, phone St. Croix Foundation at 340.773.9898 directly.

ABOUT ST. CROIX FOUNDATION

Established in 1990, the Foundation has served as a conduit for over 42 million dollars in funding for community-based projects throughout the Virgin Islands. With an incomparable track record of successful community development initiatives and national recognition for its work in education reform and small business development, the Foundation has also received international acknowledgment for its community revitalization initiatives and, today, continues directing its focus on holistic community building and development, policy research and data collection, and the broad-based support of nonprofits, including fiscal sponsorship, grantmaking, and the Nonprofit Consortium.

ABOUT FUNDACION COMMUNITARIA DE PUERTO RICO

Since 1984, the FUNDACION COMMUNITARIA DE PUERTO RICO (FCPR) has allowed donors to contribute to the development of Puerto Rican communities. FCPR plays multiple roles such as grant-maker; grant-seeker, program administrator; philanthropic leader, community convener, fund manager and custodian of the community endowment. Since Hurricane María, its strategic plan promotes and strengthens equitable access to potable water, renewable energy, social housing, community economic development, and education, among other areas of interest.