Kids Win Missouri

Outreach and Communication: KWM engages individuals and organizations in communities across Missouri through virtual events, email communication, presentations, meetings and roundtables to educate and obtain community feedback on issues impacting the well-being of children. Kids Win Missouri helps keep citizens abreast of news and developments concerning federal, state and local policy, providing regular updates through weekly conference calls and emails during the state's legislative session (early January through mid-May) and as needed during the remainder of the year. The conference calls and emails are open to the general public and accessible by signing up for updates through the organization's website. The organization hosted 17 weekly update calls and delivered 17 weekly update calls and delivered 18 weekly updates on policy issues impacting children and families during 2023. KWM also hosted 7 monthly meetings on topical issues relating to children and families from June through December. KWM seeks to educate policymakers and the general public on issues important to the well-being of children through traditional, online and social media. In 2023, Kids Win Missouri continued its public relations campaign to share pertinent updates and educate parents, providers, policymakers and community leaders on the importance of early childhood services. The organization posted 15 blog posts on its website, had active social media pages and accounts, and worked with media organizations on 43 articles published in 2023.

Early Childhood Fellowships: Kids Win Missouri continued its early childhood fellowships for parents and child care and early education providers in 2023. The fellowship provides training and experiential learning in policy, advocacy, and leadership. Eighteen parents and seventeen providers graduated from the fellowship in June of 2023. A combined 25 parent and provider fellows began the fellowship as Cohort 2 in June 2023.

Policy Development:KWM works with organizations across Missouri to identify policies or changes to existing policies that will improve the well-being of Missouri children. Issue-specific workgroups convene to help develop policy on topics, which include early childhood, health and mental health, economic security and revenue, youth education and development and safety, security, family and community. The workgroups focused on 12 policy issues in 2023. The organization also develops research and analyses on various topics and researches current and proposed policies impacting children and families. In 2023, the organization's research and analyses included child care, pre-K, home visiting, maternal health, youth homelessness, and access to health care for children and families.

Empowering Communities to Address Child Care and Early Education Challengers: In 2023, Kids Win Missouri launched a new initiative to support communities in researching and addressing their child care and early education challenges. Lead organizations in six communities throughout Missouri recruit leadership teams to guide research and action planning. Kids Win Missouri supports the communities with technical assistance, facilitation, and research resources.