July Newsletter

State-specific view of Federal Funding Database.

Navigating Recent Federal Funding Cuts for Kids

In the days preceding passage of a domestic policy bill that will slash billions of dollars from the federal budget, we surveyed our network about what funding streams for kids concern them the most. Responses spanned across the cradle-to-career spectrum highlighting the breadth of federal programs that support children and families, and the widespread worry over cuts. We are currently integrating these insights into our analyses of the funding landscape, and will continue to track and report on funding cuts, eligibility changes, and the ripple effects when coordination and infrastructure dollars disappear—even when core programs survive. Most notably, recent updates to our Federal Funding Streams for Children and Youth Services database, include the addition of funding data through 2024 and a new state-by-state view, so advocates can see how the proposed cuts will affect the children and youth in their states. Also, see the implications of some specific cuts in our new explanatory infographic.

Explore the Database

Read Our Budget Bill Blog

What's New

Funding for Kids in the Great Outdoors

In our new guest blog, Camp Fire CEO Shawna Rosenzweig explains how high-quality outdoor programs and camps foster positive youth mental health—and why payouts from social media lawsuits should fund them.

Read the Blog

2025 Children’s Funding Champion

Earlier this month, we named the Travis County Affordable Childcare Now! coalition this year’s Children’s Funding Champion. The award, presented at our biennial Children’s Funding Institute, honors advocates who have gone above and beyond to secure dedicated funding for children and youth in their communities.

Learn About the Awardee

In Case You Missed It

Woman with baby and daycare professional with kids.

New Cost Modeling Courses

Our two new cost modeling training courses teach local leaders and advocates how to assess the true costs of their child care goals for infants and toddlers and children from birth to age 13.

Child Care

Infant and Toddler Care

In the News

Check out recent highlights about our work to secure social media lawsuit payouts for after-school programs and ways dedicated funding can support child care in articles from Inside Philanthropy and The Dallas Morning News.

Visit Our Press Page

We Are Turning 7!

Collage of photos from the 2025 staff retreat.

July marks our 7th birthday, and we are amazed by how time has flown! Since our beginning in 2018, inspired by the vision of our Founder and CEO Elizabeth Gaines and Co-founder and Vice President of Strategy and Advocacy Olivia Allen, we have grown into a proud group of 34 staff and interns, all deeply dedicated to ensuring that all children have access to the programs and services they need.

Anniversaries are a time to reflect on our impact, helped in no small part by the collaboration and support of our partners and funders. Like many of you, in this current moment we are focused on the impending federal funding cuts and are working to equip leaders and advocates with the tools and resources they need to maximize investments for kids. (Be sure to follow our social media, where we share timely and valuable updates on this topic.) Meanwhile, we continue to help communities and states identify ways to expand their local and state funding, while we grow our coalition to harness funding from social media lawsuits, expand our cost analysis and modeling training tools, and so much more.

We are grateful to everyone who has shared the journey with us for any part of our first seven years. Please encourage other colleagues who want to join the movement to support children and youth to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest news and information. Here’s to seven more years and beyond!