ABSTRACT
Children of Latino herit age repres ent the fastest growing group among chil dren in the United States. According to the US Bureau of the Census (2009) the propor tion of the child popu la tion under age 18 in the US of Hispanic origin has more than doubled in the last three decades, from 9 percent in 1980 to 22 percent in 2009. This trend is anti cip ated to continue, with the proportion of chil dren of Hispanic origin projec ted to comprise 27 percent of the entire US popu la tion of chil dren in 2021 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2009). Country of origin data from the 2004 American Community Survey indic ated that those of Mexican origin comprise the largest propor tion of Hispanics, account ing for almost two-thirds of Hispanic indi vidu als in the United States (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2007).
