One of the six “Fundamental Needs Areas” for the health and well-being of children and families targeted by the St. Louis Children’s Agenda, a coalition of local agencies. Safe Neighborhoods & Strong Communities refers to areas involving law enforcement and the juvenile legal system, crime, neighborhood stabilization and other specific topics.

The Children of Metropolitan St. Louis Report uses school district-level data for eight education-related indicators. The St. Louis Public School (SLPS) District corresponds to the geographical boundaries of the county of St. Louis City, but other school districts are only a portion of a county, or may overlap one or more counties. School districts are sometimes, analogous to municipality or neighborhood boundaries, and sometimes a combination of several neighborhoods/municipalities.

Indicator #2 in the 2009-10 CMSL. SNAP is a federal assistance program that assists low income persons with the purchase of food. CMSL Calculation: (Number of SNAP recipients under age 18/Total estimated 2008 population under age 18) x 100. Data Source: Illinois Department of Human Services (2008); Missouri Department of Social Services (as of December 2008)