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In order to create a strong, unified, and credible voice on child and family policy, First Focus is fostering partnerships with influential state-based organizations. Our state advocacy strategy seeks to demonstrate the strong bipartisan support for innovative action by policymakers to improve the lives of our children.
Learn about our state partners by clicking on the blue states in the map below.
Select a state for more information
The newly organized Alaska Children & Family Advocacy Coalition is a statewide, multi-issue child and family advocacy coalition created to provide a strong, bipartisan and unified voice speaking out in behalf of children and families. The mission is to ensure that all children and their families have the resources and opportunities to lead healthy and productive lives and to realize their full potential.
The Coalition was created in November 2011 to bring together agencies across Alaska to advocate for legislation regarding the well-being of children and families. Still in its infancy, members are working to lay the foundation of this much needed Coalition by expanding membership, increasing communication among local organizations, and advocating for positive change.
The mission of Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families is to ensure that all children and their families have the resources and opportunities to lead healthy and productive lives and to realize their full potential.
Children Now’s mission is to find common ground among influential opinion leaders, interest groups and policymakers, who together can develop and drive socially innovative, “win-win” approaches to helping all children achieve their full potential.
The Children's Partnership is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan child advocacy organization with offices in Santa Monica, CA and Washington, DC. They undertake research, analysis, and advocacy to place the needs of America's over 74 million children and youth, particularly the underserved, at the forefront of emerging policy debates. The hallmark of The Children's Partnership is to forge agendas for youth in areas where none exist, to help ensure that disadvantaged children have the resources and opportunities they need to succeed. Founded in 1993, the Children's Partnership has focused on securing health coverage for uninsured children and working to extend the benefits of technology to all children and their families.
The Colorado Children's Campaign is the leading voice for Colorado's 1.2 million children. Through research and advocacy, the Children's Campaign works to increase access to health coverage and wellness for kids; increase access to and the quality of early childhood care and education; reduce the state's dropout rate and improve the quality of K-12 education; and improve the state's ability to respond to children's needs appropriately through fiscal reforms. Since its founding in 1985, the Children’s Campaign has established a successful track record of identifying policy impediments to child success, building public and legislative support for the most effective solutions and effectively advocating for policies to improve the lives of the kids in Colorado.
Selected Partnership Activities
Capitol Hill briefing on Child Well-Being as a Guide for Budget and Policy
The Children's Campaign spoke at this January, 2012, briefing about their successful children's budget tool.
The Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law provides national leadership in identifying, developing, and supporting creative and collaborative approaches to achieve social and economic justice for low-income people and communities. The Center engages in direct advocacy campaigns in Illinois and around the country to improve policies and programs on specific issues, and also engages in broader advocacy on general issues of justice, opportunity, and human rights..
The Child and Family Policy Center works at the community, state, and national levels on child and family policy issues, with a particular emphasis upon developing more asset-based and comprehensive approaches to helping children and their families succeed. The Child and Family Policy Center carries out fiscal analysis that sheds light on how taxes and budgetary decisions are affecting families and children.
Kentucky Youth Advocates is Kentucky's only multi-issue child advocacy organization. That unique role means that the mission of Kentucky Youth Advocates is as simple as it is profound to make Kentucky the best place in America to be young. As the independent voice for Kentucky's children and youth for more than thirty years, Kentucky Youth Advocates addresses policy issues in a variety of areas, including economic well-being, health, safety, early childhood, K-12 education, and juvenile justice.
Advocates for Children and Youth was founded in 1987 by a group of prominent child advocates in Maryland who saw the need for an independent organization to advocate for the needs of the state's children and families in the community, the media, and the public policy arena.
The Maine Children's Alliance advocates for sound public policies to improve the lives of all Maine's Children, Youth and Families.
Michigan's Children is a statewide, independent voice for children and their families that works with lawmakers, business leaders, and communities on several issues to make Michigan a place where all children have the opportunity to thrive. Every year the Board of Directors of Michigan's Children, which includes a range of statewide leaders in business, philanthropy, the media, the faith community and other professions, adopts a set of legislative and administrative priorities that are designed to better support families with young children, eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in child well-being, and ensure a successful transition to adulthood for at-risk youths. Michigan's Children is a member of Voices for America's Children, and works closely with Voices as it furthers its public policy agenda.
The Mississippi Center for Justice is a home grown, non-profit public interest law firm that pursues racial and economic justice through advocacy for systemic change. The Center carries out its mission through a community lawyering approach that advances specific social justice campaigns in partnership with national and local organizations and community leaders. Key children-focused initiatives include safe and affordable housing for children recovering from Hurricane Katrina, improving education access, strengthening children's health care through Medicaid, and making child care more affordable.
Founded in 1987 by Kathy Bigsby Moore, Voices for Children has a nearly 25 year track record of improving the lives of Nebraska’s children and youth.
Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) is the trusted, independent voice putting children’s needs first for more than 30 years. ACNJ's work results in better laws and policies, more effective funding and stronger services for children and families. And it means that more children are given the chance to grow up safe, healthy and educated.
New Mexico Voices for Children is a nonpartisan, statewide advocacy organization that works to eliminate child poverty and improve the health and well-being of New Mexico's children, families and communities by shaping local and federal public policy. New Mexico Voices for Children uses its research, data analysis, and publications to educate and inform policymakers, the media and the public, and works both at grassroots and governmental levels, often in coalition with other advocacy organizations, business leaders, community groups and the faith community.
Action for Children North Carolina is a leading statewide nonprofit organization based in Raleigh and is the 2008 winner of the N.C. Center for Nonprofits' Nonprofit Sector Stewardship Award. Since its founding in 1983, Action for Children has been the leading voice for North Carolina's children. Action for Children is the KIDS COUNT partner in North Carolina and the state affiliate of the national organization, Voices for America's Children.
Voices for Ohio's Children is a non-partisan collaborative of private, public, and not-for-profit sector organizations and individuals who advocate for public policy that improves the well-being of Ohio's children and their families. Voices for Ohio's Children will be a leader in children's advocacy efforts in Ohio. Our work results in public policy ensuring our children are well-educated, healthy and safe.
Children First works to make Oregon a place where all children thrive. Children First for Oregon educates and engages Oregonians to promote programs and policies that get results for kids.
Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children is a strong, effective and trusted voice to improve the health, education, and well-being of the Commonwealth's children. The vision of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children is that by 2014, they will have helped Pennsylvania move into position as one of the top 10 states in the nation to be a child and to raise a child. To achieve its vision, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children seeks substantial gains toward these public policy goals: All children enter school ready to learn, all children have access to health care that meets their needs, all children are raised in loving and knowledgeable families free from abuse and exploitation, all school-age children have access to effective after-school and youth development programs and all children have access to high-quality public education.
Rhode Island KIDS COUNT is a statewide children's policy organization dedicated to improving the health, education, economic well-being safety and development of Rhode Island's children. Rhode Island KIDS COUNT provides information on child well-being, stimulates dialogue on children's issues, and promotes accountability and action.
For more than 20 years, South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center has improved the quality of life for all South Carolinians. The organization serves a wide range of needs for the low-income community through legal work, economic development, social legislation and educational work. Its Focus on Kids project brings together organizations and individuals to advocate for policies and programs that ensure success for all South Carolina's children.
For more than twenty years, the Center for Public Policy Priorities has been a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization committed to improving public policies and private practices to better the economic and social conditions of low- and moderate-income Texans. The center pursues this mission through independent research, policy analysis and development, public education, advocacy, and technical assistance.
Texans Care for Children is the leading voice, source, and network for children's policy in Texas.
Our focus includes child and maternal health, child protection, child mental wellbeing, juvenile justice, family financial security, and more.
Voices for Utah Children is the only statewide, multi-issue child advocacy organization that speaks out on behalf of children. We are a credible, nonpartisan, and forceful voice for children and families. For more than twenty five years, we have improved children's lives by combining policy expertise with the power of strategic communications and advocacy to achieve real results.
Voices for Virginia's Children is a statewide multi-issue children's policy research and advocacy organization established in 1994. Voices works to ensure that policymakers understand and respond to the needs of the Commonwealth's children, especially those who are disadvantaged or otherwise vulnerable.
The Children's Alliance ensures that laws, policies, and programs work for kids, and holds leaders accountable until they secure the resources required to make all children safe and healthy.
The Wisconsin Council on Children and Families works to ensure that every child in Wisconsin grows up in a just and nurturing family and community.
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