27 Years of Leadership On Behalf of Washington Families

In the 1970s, community members with a passion for preventing harm to children in Washington state came together to take action. Led by pediatrician Ray Heffer, social worker Janet Youngren Miller, and citizen lobbyists Bonnie Riach, and Nancy Gode, they convinced the Legislature in 1982 to establish a trust fund to help protect the state’s most vulnerable children and to found a statewide agency—the Council for Children & Families (CCF, formerly WCPCAN)—to lead the effort. Funded by a $5 surcharge on marriage licenses, CCF set about the task of working to prevent abuse and neglect before it occurred.

A CCF committee soon recognized the need to augment the financial resources provided by the state through private fundraising. With start-up funding from a Burlington Northern Foundation Grant and money raised by CCF volunteers, Children’s Trust Foundation was born as a 501c(3) nonprofit organization in 1984. Janet Miller was instrumental in the drive to create the organization and she remained an active member of our Board of Directors and Advisory Council until her death in 2007.

In our first ten years, our primary goal was to supplement funding for CCF. Our Board also saw opportunities to advance the mission of preventing abuse and neglect through their own programs and initiatives. Our first major project was to spearhead the formation of the Governor’s Task Force on Fetal Alcohol Effects, which led to a statewide public education campaign to combat drinking alcohol during pregnancy.

Among our other early accomplishments were:

In 1992, Children's Trust and CCF agreed to jointly lead the way in developing a statewide plan for prevention. We convened meetings of citizens, child-care professionals, lawmakers, and civic leaders across the state to prioritize prevention strategies. These efforts resulted in “Communities Speak Out,” a report on statewide child abuse prevention strategies, which was finalized in 1997.

Responding to the priorities identified in the “Communities Speak Out” report, our Board and staff began their own grantmaking process in order to directly fund family support centers—nurturing and welcoming community-based places where parents could learn skills and strategies for raising healthy children. In 1997, we began a grant program that led to our first-ever grant for $10,000 to help establish FamilyWorks in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood.

Between 1997 and 2009, Children's Trust awarded more than $1 million to family support centers and prevention programs throughout the state.

In 2007, a Seattle Foundation grant provided funds to bolster our infrastructure and communications.  In 2008, a generous donation of $250,000 from Jim and Kathy Youngren and another generous bequest by the estate of Elsie Kaleda positioned Children's Trust to step forward as a leader in the effort to prevent child abuse and neglect in Washington.
 
After 27 years, Children's Trust is stronger than ever. We are focused on being a resource for all caregivers and increasing public awareness about the issues that families face and how to keep families and children safe.

The future for Children’s Trust shows great promise in breaking the cycle of child abuse by making Parent Education & Support vailable and accessible for all Washington families.