The Children's Movement of Florida

We raise public awareness on The importance of Early Childhood through strategic advocacy efforts reaching parents, business leaders, and elected officials all across The state. The Movement does not use any tax dollars for this work, and does not endorse political candidates or political parties/agendas. Throughout 2022, we hosted and/or participated in more than 100 community events in 22 Florida counties, ranging from listening sessions with parents and educators, Early learning center site visits with legislators, briefing meetings with candidates for public office, speaking engagements, and a capstone summit that engaged more than 700 floridians in a virtual format. We further engage The state legislature, key stakeholders and parents with a strategic and far-reaching communication strategy to spread The message of Early investment through email newsletters, social media, and The movements website. Through these daily activities, we have been able to: - engage thousands of new supporters for Early Childhood across The state - foster discussions of quality standards and support for teachers in floridas Early learning programs - maintain collaborative efforts for legislative engagement on Early learning issues - retain funding for The free parent resource line, help me grow, which now serves about 75% of Florida families - run our bosses for babies Initiative to recognize business champions and entice more Florida employers to enhance their family- friendly policies - work with The Florida chamber on The Early learning business alliance, and ensure broad business support for high-quality Early learning in our state - manage a statewide volunteer Initiative, readingpals, focused on Early literacy and mentorship, and serving more than 2,500 children across The statein person and now virtually as well.

Children's video (i am Florida) - grant funds to be used to develop a comprehensive system, involving multiple partners, to improve The quality of education from age zero through elementary schools over a four year period. Additional funding has been provided to develop a Children's Movement throughout The state of Florida to improve public investments in Children's programs and education.

Kidcare outreach - grant funds to be used to develop and promote policy changes that will reduce The number of uninsured children in Florida. It is a three year project to make sure all Florida's children have affordable, quality health care coverage.

United way literacy program - an effort to ensure that more children are reading at grade level by The end of third grade by engaging, training and deploying volunteer "reading pals" in 10 Florida regions with a focus on improving The reading abilities of students from pre-k to third grade in lower-performing schools and childcare centers.