February Newsletter

$472 Billion in American Rescue Plan Funds

Expire Soon

Urgency is mounting as states and localities must designate the final round of American Rescue Plan funding within the next 11 months. September 30, 2024, is the deadline for allocating the $122 billion in funds from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund and December 21, 2024, is the deadline for allocating the $350 billion in State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund dollars.

Learn more about the upcoming deadlines and what communities can do to set themselves up for long-term success. Then, check out how four localities have invested these funds to support their children, youth, and families. Also, be sure to check out our upcoming webinar below for strategies for sustaining funding moving forward.

Read the Community Profiles

Read About the Funding Deadlines

What’s New

Upcoming Webinar: The Case for Children's Funding Coordinators

To secure stable and sustained funding in the wake of expiring federal pandemic relief funds, communities must take action now. Join us on Thursday, February 29, at 1:30 pm ET for a webinar breaking down a new approach for building local capacity to support kids’ funding with children’s funding coordinators.

New Board and Team Members

We’re growing (again!). Welcome our two new vice presidents, Januari Bradley, vice president of people and culture, and Julie Nicholson, vice president of implementation and impact. Olivia Allen, our co-founder and long-time strategy director, also will become our new vice president of strategy and advocacy. Rob Watson has joined our board of directors, bringing experience from decades of work in education and international community development.

Meet the Team

Funding for Children and Youth in North Carolina

Join us and the North Carolina Budget & Tax Center on Tuesday, March 12, at noon ET for a webinar about the state's new fiscal map, which documents all federal and state-level investments in services and programs for children and youth in North Carolina, and how advocates are using it is to support investments for kids.

In Case You Missed It

How Government Finance Officers Can Use Fiscal Mapping

Our article "Map the Way to Smarter Funding" in the latest issue of Government Finance Review magazine explains why and how government finance officers can use fiscal mapping to support kids in their communities.

Read the Article

National Trends in State Funding for Children and Youth

How much do states spend on programs and services for kids? Our new national analysis answers this question and explores findings from our fiscal work with 14 state partners. It also includes individual fiscal maps of state, federal, and federal relief funding invested in kids.

Explore the Analysis

Spotlight on State Legislation

With most states’ legislative sessions now in full swing, we want to highlight the important role that state legislation plays in funding services for children and youth. As our above American Rescue Plan profiles show, states like Maryland and Connecticut have taken steps to ensure an equitable method of distributing federal funds.

For an insider’s look at how advocates are using different types of bills to support kids through the legislative process, watch our recent webinar about state legislative successes. We also have examples of states that have dedicated money to kids in our Wisconsin and Louisiana case studies.

And don’t miss our fact sheet, The Role of State Legislators in Strategic Public Financing, for a roadmap about how state legislators and their staff can financially support children and youth.