This is the 2nd "New Jersey City Kids Count," a snapshot of child well-being in New Jersey's largest and poorest cities. The report serves to measure progress and challenges in the cities where most of New Jersey's poorest children are growing up. The Association for Children of New Jersey, with funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, produces the Kids Count series of data-driven reports to help the public, policymakers, advocates and service providers understand and respond to the needs of children and families throughout New Jersey. This report focuses on 10 of New Jersey's largest cities that also have the highest concentrations of poverty. They are: Camden, East Orange, Elizabeth, Irvington, Jersey City, Newark, Passaic, Paterson, Trenton and Union City. This year's "New Jersey City Kids Count" shows both promising progress and persistent problems. Child poverty in these 10 cities increased 17 percent from 1999 to 2005 and remains three times higher than the state average. Despite this increase in poverty, children in these cities have posted improvements in both test scores and health measures, even though they still lag behind their wealthier peers in other parts of the state. Poverty is the number one predicator of poor outcomes for children. Children who grow up in poor families are much more likely to suffer health problems, be abused or neglected, fail in school and require public assistance as adults. The data in this report continues to expose the wide disparity between children in the poorest cities and those growing up in wealthier communities.