Welcome to the Local Children’s Cabinet Network!

Welcome to all the newest members of the Local Children’s Cabinet Network! This national network of community leaders is working to improve the coordination of local child- and youth-serving agencies and initiatives through “children’s cabinets” or equivalent policy coordinating bodies. We are delighted to be working with you!

Reach of the Local Children’s Cabinet Network

Would you like to join this free network or learn more? Would you like to join this free network or learn more?  Click here to complete a short contact form.

Network Offerings

Webinars

Since its launch in March, the Local Children’s Cabinet Network has brought members together for two webinars discussing challenges such as getting cabinets started, cabinet structures, setting cabinet priorities, and common barriers in navigating policy alignment work. Webinars like these will continue to spark shared learning and to highlight progress and lessons from member communities, including their Children’s Cabinets accomplishments, history, structure, and current initiatives.

Toolkits

The network also introduced a new toolkit that serves as a guide for mayors and their staff to create and strengthen a local children’s cabinet and set a big-picture vision for the work ahead. Additional tools include how to: create tailored messages, create a successful structure, set goals, and select strong indicators to monitor shared goals.

In-person convenings

Network members are invited to the first Local Children’s Cabinet Network Summit on July 30th-31st in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Network Members can register up to 2 leaders from their cabinet. Reserve your spot today! For questions, please reach out to LocalCCN@gmail.com

Case Studies

Learn from communities making strides!

• Check out Minneapolis Youth Coordinating Board on how they are championing the health, safety, education and development of Minneapolis’ children and young people through collective action and policy alignment.
• The Education Redesign Lab’s case study on Building Community-Wide Systems of Opportunity for Children explores what elements enable and accelerate cross-sector collaboration, as well as what challenges impede it.
• See how Anne Arundel County, Maryland is using its Partnership for Children, Youth and Families to assess community human services needs and identify gaps in service, convene a neutral group of diverse stakeholders to build partnerships and develop solutions, and fund services for children and families by leveraging state funding and increasing local resources.

Featured Activities

• Introducing Broader, Bolder, Better: How Schools and Communities Help Students Overcome the Disadvantages of Poverty! In this newly-released book, co-authors Paul Reville, the founder and director of the Education Redesign Lab, and Elaine Weiss, former national coordinator of the Broader Bolder Approach to Education, share insights pulling from nearly a decade of research and a dozen case studies of communities that have effectively launched integrated school support efforts to illustrate how this model can be adopted locally. Learn more about this book here.
• The Children’s Funding Project is hosting the Children’s Funding Institute. If you are considering pursuing a ballot measure to generate local revenue for children’s services, this September boot camp in Denver is for you! To learn more, reach out to Olivia Allen at olivia@childrensfundingproject.org.
• Check out the Education Redesign Lab’s new report illustrating how personalized Success Plans can serve as a promising strategy to support children both in and outside school.
• Wonder how your community measures up in opportunity? The Forum for Youth Investment just released the annual Opportunity Index measuring economic, education, health, and community data at state and county levels throughout the country. See your community and state scores at opportunityindex.org!
• In case you missed it, author David Brooks’ op-ed on winning the war on poverty discusses Canada’s multisector, comprehensive approach for combating complex socio-economic issues – echoing the children’s cabinet approach.
• Hamilton County, Tennessee launched its Children’s Cabinet! First of its kind for the community, the cabinet hopes to play an important role in connecting every child in the community with what he or she needs to thrive.

Announcements

If you want to apply to be a member of the Local Children’s Cabinet Network and attend the kick-off, see here for more information about how. We are still accepting applications on a rolling basis.

Don’t yet have a Children’s Cabinet? Share this information with your community leaders to spark creating a Children’s Cabinet in your community!

For more information, contact LocalCCN@gmail.com