St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands – St. Croix Foundation for Community Development (SCF) is pleased to announce the upcoming release of the territory’s annual publication, the 2025 KIDS COUNT® USVI Data Book, “When Data Speaks: The Voice of Our Children,” on November 19th, 2025, at 10:00 AM AST during a Virtual Community Stakeholder Presentation via Zoom.
A national in
itiative 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. Comprising nonprofits, foundations, and consortia from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, KIDS COUNT is considered vital to providing critical data about child well-being for many federal, state, and local government agencies.
During the virtual presentation on Wednesday, November 19th, 2025, SCF’s KIDS COUNT USVI Team will provide an overview of this year’s data package to Government Partners, Nonprofit Civic Organizations, Policymakers, and Community Stakeholders. The first data product, the territory’s 2025 KIDS COUNT USVI Data Book entitled “When Data Speaks: The Voice of Our Children,” reports data in six domains: Education, Economic Well-being, Family and Community, Health, Opportunity Youth (16-24 year olds), and Community Bright Spots.
Shining a spotlight on the data as representative of our children’s voices, the 2025 KIDS COUNT USVI Data Book is a comprehensive report that contains data from the most current available sources (including government agencies and nonprofit organizations) throughout the territory. This year’s Data Book will also incorporate responses from young people throughout the territory, describing their unique perspectives in their own voices.
SCF encourages all community members to attend the virtual release, including parents, educators, nonprofit organizations, policymakers, public administrators, and media – all of whom are likely to find the information in this year’s Data Book particularly useful to identify and understand the challenges facing the VI’s opportunity youth population. Through the release of this year’s data package, SCF also seeks to spark ideation around creative and collaborative solutions.
Building off the 2024 release of the territory’s first KIDS COUNT USVI Data Dashboard (https://www.stxfoundation.org/kids-count-dashboard/), St. Croix Foundation’s KIDS COUNT Team will also provide local stakeholders with updates on the data available in this free, public, online database. Utilizing a simple, user-friendly graphic interface, the Data Dashboard has been expanded with additional key data points and metrics in all KIDS COUNT USVI domains. While this dashboard is focused specifically on data points relevant to the KIDS COUNT USVI Initiative, it is an opportunity for other agencies to use the data across diverse sectors and to use it as a model for their own data sharing.
According to the President and CEO of St. Croix Foundation, Deanna James, “As we reflect on the release of this year’s KIDS COUNT USVI Data Book, it is vital to recognize that solutions to the challenges facing our children and families are a shared responsibility. Every person and organization in our community has a role to play and a stake in their well-being. At the heart of our work lies our children—our future—and it is essential that we listen to their voices, elevate their perspectives, and ensure that their experiences guide our efforts. By intentionally placing children’s voices at the center of our work, we are reminded of what is truly at stake and why we must come together to create meaningful, lasting change for every child in the Virgin Islands.”
Since St. Croix Foundation’s stewardship of KIDS COUNT® began in 2020, the Organization has remained steadfast in its position that while the territory’s children are facing seemingly intractable challenges, our Community has an inalienable obligation to protect them and to provide every opportunity for them to thrive.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Interested parties should register for the Virtual Presentation at:https://stxfoundation.info/2025KidsCountRegistration. There is no cost to attend.
An electronic copy of the 2025 Data Book will be distributed to all registered participants during the virtual release presentation and will later be accessible via St. Croix Foundation’s website (www.stxfoundation.org). Physical copies will be available to interested parties post-release. For additional information or questions about the 2025 KIDS COUNT USVI release, please contact jlawrence@stxfoundation.org.
St. Croix Foundation extends its deepest appreciation to the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Special acknowledgment also goes to the Foundation’s public and civic sector Data Partners for their collaboration and commitment to children and families in the Virgin Islands. Questions about the KIDS COUNT USVI Initiative should be directed to President Deanna James of St. Croix Foundation at 340.773.9898 or DJames@stxfoundation.org.
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About St. Croix Foundation:
Since its founding in 1990 following the devastation of Hurricane Hugo, St. Croix Foundation for Community Development has been a visionary of social change and holistic community development. For three decades, the Foundation has been working with community partners to challenge the status quo, and direct strategic investments toward its key priority areas, including community and economic development, education reform, public safety, and nonprofit development.
Holding the vision of its founders, the Foundation continues to operate as a place-based hybrid foundation, serving as a grantmaker as well as a project manager and direct service provider. One of the most important components of SCF’s work is providing fiduciary and fiscal sponsorship services to over 250 grassroots organizations and charitable initiatives throughout the Territory. Today, the Foundation has expanded its programmatic portfolio to include providing support to a growing number of St. Croix’s nonprofits through its Nonprofit Consortium, a project that provides capacity building, technical support, and advocacy on the local and national stage. In total, over the past 34 years, the Foundation has been a conduit of more than $50 million private and public sector dollars invested into the U.S. Virgin Islands.