Early childhood initiatives

Linda Kaufmann has served as the Initiative Foundation's senior program manager for children, youth and families since 2000, and also as the organization's liaison to the Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative and the Minnesota Thrive Initiative during that time. Linda talked with Minnesota Compass about building broad coalitions to nurture children in Minnesota.

Please give a little bit of background on the two initiatives.

The Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative was created by the six Minnesota Initiative Foundations (MIFs) in partnership with The McKnight Foundation in 2003 as a way to increase the quality care and education of Greater Minnesota’s youngest children, ages 0-5. The Minnesota Thrive Initiative was created five years later by the MIFs in partnership with the Bush Foundation in order to increase awareness of and access to essential early childhood mental health support and services for young children and their families, with a particular focus on children ages 0-3 and their caregivers.

Both initiatives are based on the principle that parents and other family members are a child’s first and most important caregivers, and that they need to be recognized and supported in raising healthy children during every stage of early development. We believe this can be best accomplished in Greater Minnesota by creating and supporting early childhood coalitions – teams of key stakeholders who come together to create enriching opportunities around a variety of areas such as literacy, prenatal health care, kindergarten readiness, parent education, and quality childcare to name a few.

We now have 86 local coalitions made up of parents; educators; business, faith, nonprofit and healthcare leaders; elected officials; law enforcement officers and others. Each team is provided training, technical assistance, and modest financial support in order to create and carry out a local plan of action to increase the quality and quantity of early care and education opportunities. Many generous Minnesota foundations, businesses and individuals have supported the Minnesota Early Childhood and Thrive Initiatives since their inception.

Why are the MIFs supporting these two initiatives?

The MIFs exist in order to help build healthy and sustainable rural communities. We believe that this can only happen if the young children and families living in those communities are supported, valued, and cared for at the very highest level. Years of research underscore the remarkable social, civic, educational, and economic value of investing in young children – particularly those who are most vulnerable and marginalized by things like poverty, parental incarceration, single and teen parent households, and other stressful home environments. As philanthropic organizations dedicated to supporting the most meaningful, measurable, and cost-effective strategies for creating community success, we simply cannot think of a more important investment.

Why is it more effective to work together?

Too many rural Minnesota children and families are facing critical barriers in their lives right now. Educational institutions are under acute stress, parents are losing jobs, quality childcare is at a premium, locally-owned businesses are threatened, and the overall economic viability of communities is at risk. Now more than ever community members need to come together with public and private institutions and policymakers in order to make the care and education of young children a top priority. Every segment of our communities is impacted by the health and well-being of young children and their families. If everyone is not working in concert to share their knowledge and to make the very best use of finite resources, children and families will not succeed.

Are their challenges to working in broad coalitions?

Working in close partnership with others can sometimes be a messy and time-consuming business, but we’ve learned that an inclusive model ultimately leads to the most lasting and meaningful change. For far too long, the people and organizations educating and caring for young children have been left on their own or forced into silos competing over scarce resources. The challenges may still be great, but by working together we realize that they are not insurmountable.

Do you think this kind of organized approach could be applied to other types of issues?

The MIFs are well known for applying an inclusive, grassroots, asset-based model to advance important work across many areas of community health and well-being. We understand that local people know their communities best, and that coming together can have tremendous impact over time. I’ve had the privilege to work for the Initiative Foundation in central Minnesota for over a decade and I’ve witnessed so much progress using a model like this one. Greater Minnesota may be facing challenges, but we have an abundance of hard working, compassionate people willing to dedicate their gifts and resources to create viable communities.

How are the results of the initiatives being shared?

We are very proud of the progress and results created as a result of this important work! The MIFs recently published a report illustrating the advancements of the Minnesota Thrive Initiative. In addition, we are currently working with Dr. Richard Chase at Wilder Research to create a new report highlighting nine years of measurable progress in a variety of well-child/family indicator areas that have occurred as a result of the Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative. This report should be complete in the fall and will be distributed to our partners across the state at that time.

What is next for these two initiatives?

Even though the economy may not be, our local Minnesota Early Childhood and Thrive coalitions are all going strong! Ongoing funding at a time like this is always in question, but the MIFs are dedicated to exploring as many options as possible to help maintain the strength and viability of this important work. Anyone can learn more about the efforts of each coalition by contacting a MIF representative.

Linda Kaufmann is currently on a 16-month leave of absence from the Initiative Foundation. During her leave, she is pursuing a master’s in public affairs from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota, and working with other organizations around the nation to learn ways to most effectively help create meaningful change for vulnerable children, families and communities. Linda is a 2010 recipient of a Bush Foundation Leaders Fellowship.