NNIP PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

The Children's Trust
3150 SW 3rd Avenue, 8th floor
Miami, FL 33129
Contact: K. Lori Hanson, Ph.D., Director of Research and Evaluation
Lori@thechildrenstrust.org
http://www.thechildrenstrust.org

The Children’s Trust is an independent special taxing district created by Miami-Dade County voters in September 2002 as a dedicated funding source with approximately $85 million in annual revenues. With over 200 service contracts, the emphasis is on strategic investments in prevention and early intervention programming that will improve child health, safety and development and promote increased parental and community involvement on behalf of all children. The Trust coordinates with other local funders and planning groups in its efforts to:

1. Sustain and expand high quality prevention and early intervention services for children, youth and families;

2. Improve systems of care through increased coordination and reduced fragmentation of services for children, youth and families in need;

3. Support knowledge development and quality improvement in the field of child and family service delivery; and

4. Advocate for child and family-friendly laws and policies at the local, state and federal levels.

The Trust places a strong emphasis on accountability and documenting the impact of funded investments, as well as making data-informed planning decisions. By statute, we are required to collect statistical data and conduct research that will inform the needs of children in the county. More specifically, the objectives of the Research and Evaluation Department are to:

• Track, analyze and disseminate information regarding the ongoing needs and status of the well-being of Miami-Dade county’s children and families for use in planning and evaluation;

• Increase the ability of funded service providers to measure and demonstrate program effectiveness and outcomes;

• Support the ongoing implementation of continuous quality improvement processes within The Trust and among funded provider organizations;

• Facilitate data-informed and data-driven decision making and investments for child and family services through access to timely and accurate research and evaluation results; and

• Collect necessary data to tell the story of The Trust's activities, successes and impact within the community.

Comprehensive and accurate statistical data help our community to understand our progress toward fulfilling our mission. To ensure that The Trust’s strategic investment plan reflects the real needs of children and families, all major service initiatives are regularly evaluated to measure participant outcomes, as well as to identify areas where programs can improve. In addition, The Trust conducts countywide surveys to assess the current needs of children, youth and families in our community. Currently, The Trust is working with Placebase to build an interactive mapping component to our website that will be populated with community resources/assets, as well as key indicators and administrative data related to child health and well-being.