Executive Summary
Upbring is on a mission to break the cycle of child abuse by empowering children, families and communities.
The organization wants to maximize its impact, but
like other nonprofits, it operates with limited resources to address a problem large in scope. One strategic challenge Upbring faces is understanding geospatial trends in child abuse and neglect, and identifying where services need to be located in the future to reach Central Texas children, families and communities in need.
To answer this question, Upbring approached DataKind volunteers, who analyzed publicly available datasets using an open methodology to show
how child abuse and population patterns have shifted in Austin and may shift in the future.
The maps reveal that services targeting at-risk children should focus on increasing capacity in the far Eastern and Southern peripheries of Austin over the next 10 years. Findings were consistent with previous mapping analyses conducted by Dell Children’s Trauma and Injury Research Center, the Texas Association for the Protection of Children (TexProtects), and Cook Children’s Center for Prevention of Child Maltreatment. Upbring and its strategic partners will use this information to guide program and facility expansion in the Austin area, as well as design a template to replicate this analysis for future Upbring impact areas across Texas.