Volume 1 | July 2019
A letter from founder Elizabeth Gaines
Dear Reader,

The Children’s Funding Project (CFP) was founded on a simple idea developed over many years: without investment, kids can’t thrive. Throughout my time in direct service, advocacy, political organizing, and national network building, securing money and resources has been a constant challenge. If we want to provide a seamless set of high quality programs and supports for youth, we as adults must learn to Find, Align, Generate, and Evaluate the necessary resources. That’s why we formed CFP.

Over CFP’s first year, we have collaborated with local communities in over half of America’s states to create fiscal maps, convene children’s cabinets, and kickstart funding ballot measures. We partnered with Harvard and the Forum for Youth Investment to organize the Local Children’s Cabinet Network and host its first meeting, giving communities the skills to align their own children’s cabinet back home. We also saw early work to generate local dedicated children’s funds come to fruition and gain real momentum in Michigan, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Missouri and beyond.

The best part? We’re just getting started. With the 2020 and 2022 election cycles on the horizon, now is the perfect time to get kids the funding they need to thrive. That’s why we’re hosting the first-ever Children’s Funding Institute in Denver (see below for details), releasing new resources for cities and states, and continuing our work with dozens of communities across the country. For more information, stay tuned with this quarterly newsletter and our Twitter account. 

Remember: what gets funded, gets done!

Sincerely,
Elizabeth Gaines
What We're Working On
People, Data, Money Chart

The first step in improving child and youth outcomes is aligning people, data, and money around common goals. We have developed a compilation of national resources of people – players and coalitions working towards improving childhood outcomes, data – facts and figures on childhood outcomes across the country and by state, and money – fiscal tools to help you find, align and generate funds for your efforts.

Check it out here.
Children's Cabinet Toolkit

What is a "children's cabinet" and how can my community build one? We partnered with Harvard's Education Redesign Lab to create a toolkit that answers these questions. The toolkit equips mayors and their staff with practical information and resources to launch a children’s cabinet in their local community.

See here.
Expanding the Team

As dozens of communities around the country know, generating children's funding is hard. It takes vision, strategy, and grit; most of all, it takes people power. Welcome to the two newest members of our team, policy associates Kylie Wheeler and Shane Linden!
What We're Reading

  • Olivia: ITEP's Taxes Chart Book uses straightforward graphics to illustrate how low-income families are unfairly burdened by both progressive and regressive taxes.

  • Amelia: Did you know that nearly two-thirds of rural families live in a child care desert? Center for American Progress' list highlights why rural child care is important, no matter where you live.


  • Kylie: How can we build sustainable housing for families and children? Urban Institute's report examines studies from around the country.
What We're Thinking About
  • St. Paul is researching a proposal to give every child in the city a $50 college saving account.

  • We love Sac Kids First's grassroots petition movement to establish a dedicated children's fund in Sacramento.

  • We've been thinking about Harvard Education Redesign Lab's approach to personalized plans for children with their Success Plans.

  • When it comes to child care, physical infrastructure - e.g. bathrooms and playgrounds - are often overlooked. This report from the Bipartisan Policy Center dives in.
Upcoming Events
2019 Children's Funding Institute
How will we fund the next generation? As the 2020 elections rapidly approach, CFP is teaming up with Funding the Next Generation to train communities pursuing local children's funding ballot measures.

For more info to this invite-only event and how your community can take part, please email [email protected]