About KIDS COUNT — Our History
In the late 1980s, the West Virginia Human Resource Association published a landmark study of the plight of West Virginia's children. The report, called Children in Crisis, detailed the serious issues facing children and families in West Virginia and quickly gained the attention of the media, the public and, most importantly, gubernatorial candidate Gaston Caperton.During the 1988 election campaign, the Human Resource Association asked then-candidate Caperton to support the cause of at-risk children. In response to their plea, he agreed that, if elected, he would lead the charge to improve the lives of children in West Virginia.
Upon taking office in 1989, Governor Caperton honored his commitment to the Human Resource Association and immediately appointed a group of prominent business, religious and labor leaders to study the issues facing at-risk children and make recommendations for improving their lives. For the next several months, the Governor's Task Force on Children, Youth and Families traveled throughout West Virginia, meeting with families and children and talking directly with the providers of children's services. Their 1989 report to the Governor recommended improvements in child abuse prevention and treatment; early education and care; and services to teens, as well as a reorganization of government agencies to better coordinate services to children.
Reorganizing and improving public services was critically important, but the Task Force also recognized that improving the lives of children would require the support and creativity of the private sector. So, in 1990, Dee Caperton and Lawson Hamilton, the co-leaders of the Governor's Task Force, established a not-for-profit corporation, The Task Force on Children Youth and Families. The first mission of this private Task Force was to promote DAY ONE, an early intervention and prevention program for new parents. The second initiative was KIDS COUNT, a nationwide project funded by the Annie E. Casey foundation to publish annual, statewide data books that would be used to educate the public and policymakers about the needs and conditions of children.
In 1995, the Task Force on Children, Youth and Families changed its name to the West Virginia KIDS COUNT Fund. The name change signified the organization's commitment to a sustained effort on behalf of West Virginia's children and a private partnership to support the mission of the Governor's Cabinet on Children, Youth and Families.
KIDS COUNT's recent work has been focused almost exclusively on the importance of improving access to and the quality of ECD programs. For example, the organization has played a major role in the development of standards for West Virginia's pre-kindergarten (pre-k) program, fought to save the pre-k program from legislative cuts, studied the importance of early literacy, educated business leaders about the economic impact of ECD programs, launched a multi-county campaign to improve early literacy practices, and spearheaded a new effort to improve the quality of West Virginia's ECD system.
Specifically, since 2006, KIDS COUNT has been leading an effort to lay the policy framework for a high-quality ECD system in West Virginia. In 2006, KIDS COUNT, in partnership with the Partners Implementing an Early Care and Education System (PIECES) and West Virginia: A Vision Shared, documented the existing ECD system, assessed the political environment and educated business leaders and parents about the importance of high-quality ECD programs. In 2007, KIDS COUNT, in partnership with PIECES and West Virginia: A Vision Shared, lead an effort to establish ECD policy priorities, build broad public support for ECD programs and advocate for comprehensive legislation to improve ECD quality. In 2008, KIDS COUNT launched a groundbreaking grassroots campaign to build support among parents, childcare providers and community leaders for new public investments to improve the quality of childcare.
Our grassroots effort was called the Kids First Communities Campaign. In March of 2008, KIDS COUNT provided seed money and technical assistance to six non profit organizations in Beckley, Charleston, Huntington, Morgantown, Parkersburg and Wheeling. These six "Kids First Leaders" successfully educated, organized and mobilized parents, childcare providers and community leaders in support of a childcare quality rating and improvement system (QRIS).
These grassroots efforts led directly to the passage of the QRIS legislation during the closing minutes of the 2009 legislative session and official signing by the Governor in May of 2009. Having achieved our goal of legislation creating a QRIS, KIDS COUNT and our Kids First Communities (now known as KIDS COUNT Communities) are now focusing our grassroots outreach more directly toward the state's business community. In June of 2009, KIDS COUNT launched a new project, called Business on Board with Childcare!, to recognize West Virginia businesses that actively support their employees' childcare needs and advocate for better childcare.