Lawmakers, youth advocates join forum in Arlington Heights

A town-hall meeting in Arlington Heights tonight will explore the challenges facing suburban youth, including growing poverty, homelessness and access to drugs.

Jim Slusher, the Daily Herald's assistant managing editor for the opinion page, will moderate the At Risk Youth in the Suburbs Forum from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Wheeling Township Community Center, 1616 N. Arlington Heights Road.

State lawmakers and youth advocates will serve as panelists during the discussion, co-sponsored by the Illinois Collaboration on Youth and the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association. The panelists will touch on what factors put students at risk and available resources for families.

Here's a look at some of the statistics organizers say will shape the discussion:

• A 55 percent increase in homeless students in north suburban Cook County between the 2010-2011 and 2012-2013 school years, a 35.5 percent increase in DuPage County, a 36.6 percent increase in Lake County and a 24.4 percent increase in McHenry County.

• The number of people living in poverty in DuPage has risen 143 percent since 1990.

• In two years, DuPage had 84 heroin-related deaths, Lake had 60 and McHenry, 31. Suburban Cook County had 82 such deaths in 2013 alone.

For details, visit Icoyouth.org.