The Progress We're Making
Last Updated: May 2012
The Children’s Movement of Florida has emerged this past year to become the most advanced statewide advocacy organizations for children’s issues in the United States.
The Children’s Movement’s first-year accomplishments are outlined below. The Movement’s pre-launch came in May 2010, with the official launch in September 2010. Here are some accomplishments from these past two years:
1. The Pilot (The Palm Beach Project):
Organized 30 neighborhood meetings during a one-month test market in Palm Beach County.
2. Organized 17 regional committees throughout Florida.
3. Developed a following via"Milk Parties":
Organized 17 "Milk Party" rallies from Pensacola to Key West with a total attendance of 15,000.
4. Produced awareness and educational material:
Communicated The Movement message and objectives via print and broadcast media. And, produced videos for both the Palm Beach Project and "I Am Florida" (The latter video has been shown to tens of thousands of Floridians).
5. Generated substantial media coverage:
Including television, newspaper and Internet coverage, plus support from editorial boards of major newspapers throughout Florida -- and a national TV piece on CNN.
6. Fund-Raising:
Raised more than $2.5 million to finance activities.
7. Identified five key issue priorities:
Issues were determined via focus groups and a statewide poll, uniting a significant outpouring of advocates and activists for children in Florida.
8. Organized a lobbying campaign in Tallahassee:
The lobbying campaign advocated for The Movement’s priority issues during the 2011 legislative session.
9. Guided by a statewide committee:
Worked with a bipartisan 28-member statewide steering committee that gave The Children's Movement issues clout and credibility in Florida.
10. Reaching tens of thousands of Floridians:
The Movement now communicates with more than 300,000 followers via an Internet operation that integrates a sophisticated web site with significant presence on social media networks.
11. Florida and beyond:
The Movement has generated significant interest in organizing Children’s Movements in other states -- California and Hawaii being just two examples.
12. The Listening Tour:
In the summer of 2011 the Movement team returned to the same 17 cities in which it held Milk Party rallies the previous September to meet with the regional committees – more than 400 business, civic and political leaders dedicated to Florida's children – to discuss The Movement's “next steps.”
13. The “Dream Prizes” promotion:
Launched a statewide promotion to help build The Children’s Movement. For just $25 contributors become members of The Movement and are entered for a chance to win one of eight major prizes.
14. 2012 legislative agenda:
Crafted a simpler, more affordable agenda with the focus still on our five key issues and the addition of a public education component – ensuring that more children are reading at grade-level by third grade.
15. 2012 media tour:
Led by Dave Lawrence, The Movement's chair, we traveled to 10 major media markets during the months of November and December -- meeting with local organizations, editorial boards and media people -- to announce our 2012 legislative agenda and host "Books and Cookies" reading events at local early learning centers.
16. Pre- and post-assessments for Florida’s voluntary pre-kindergarten programs:
Passed legislation requiring that all children in Florida’s voluntary pre-kindergarten program are assessed both at the beginning and the end of the academic year, a critical component to ensuring a high-quality early learning program for Florida’s four year olds.
17. KidCare outreach and enrollment
In collaboration with local KidCare coalitions, Florida’s Covering Kids and Families and health advocates across the state, The Children’s Movement is working alongside outreach and enrollment initiatives for Florida KidCare. Through volunteer recruitment, training and deployment, The Movement will work to reach and enroll many of the more than half-million children in our state without health insurance.
18. Statewide early literacy initiative
Working with United Ways and Women’s Leadership Councils in 10 Florida communities, The Movement has begun developing a statewide early literacy initiative with the goal of increasing third-grade reading scores. Volunteers from The Movement will be recruited to work with students, from VPK to grade three, in a structured reading and mentoring program.
The next steps:
Further steps to make investing in children a much higher priority in this state:
-- Build our reach via the Internet to communicate and engage up to a half-million followers by the start of the 2013 legislative session.
-- Recruit thousands of volunteer advocates to support both The Movement’s KidCare outreach and early literacy initiatives.
-- Craft the 2013 agenda for The Children’s Movement of Florida.