AUSTIN (KXAN) — The city of Austin launched its “Generation ATX” initiative to “make Austin the best place in America to be a kid” on Wednesday.
The initiative has three main pillars to accomplish:
- Ensuring kids are healthy
- Creating safe environment for kids
- Making sure kids are happy and successful
“This is not just an initiative, and it’s not a project of city hall,” said Austin Mayor Kirk Watson. “This is movement.”
Watson emphasized that Austin is rich in resources, but lacks a framework to unify various “efforts, track progress, and close gaps.” He hopes to achieve that unity through this initiative.
“The truth of the matter is all of us have influence in our lives,” Watson said. “There are more than 300 youth serving organization in the Greater Austin, alongside 128 school programs housed over 100 AISD campuses.”
According to United Way Great Austin, one in four children in Austin live in households with low income, which is more than 41,000 children.
“In 2025, we’ve definitely seen a need for services for children of all ages,” said Andy Miller, the Executive Director of Austin Child Guidance. “Austin and Central Texas is what we call a mental health shortage area, meaning there’s not enough providers or services to meet the needs.”
Miller welcomed the idea of the program, and emphasized the need to make resources to those who need it most.
“Austin is a very expensive place to live. After school programs are very expensive. Childcare is very expensive,” Miller said. “The more that we can invest in equity-based programs that allow children to participate in high quality programs, access to mental health resources, resources that provide support for the whole family — we know those kids are going to have better outcomes.”
Children’s Emergency Relief International (CERI) will also be hosting a grand opening for the relocation of its global headquarters Wednesday evening to celebrate the new initiative.
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