This report explores the risks that threaten to trap children in Oakland (California) in a cycle of persistent poverty. It examines the factors that may lead to lives of continued poverty: being a member of a poor family and having a dangerously low weight at birth, not having access to quality education and training, and spending the formative teenage years idle. The report contends that substantial improvements in family income, child health, education and training, and youth opportunity will greatly increase the chances for Oakland's children to escape from the poverty cycle. The document is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1, "Poverty in Oakland," examines the growing number of poor, especially children, in the city. Chapter 2, "Families," discusses female-headed households in poverty, shrinking opportunities available to men and women during the childbearing years, and the increasing concentration of the poor in poor neighborhoods. Chapter 3, "Infancy and Childhood," reports on infant mortality and low birth weight trends, lack of access to preschool programs, and poor minority children in Oakland's schools. Chapter 4, "Adolescence," explores signs of persistent poverty among youth. The report includes statistical data in 28 tables, a list of 17 references, three maps, and four transparencies. (AF)