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Co-Investment Partnership
The California Child Welfare Co-Investment Partnership is a collaboration of state agencies, foundations and other nonprofit organizations that seek to improve the lives of children and families who are currently in or are at risk of entering the state’s child welfare system.
Founded in 2006, the Partnership is based on the premise that funding and support for child welfare programs that serve California’s vulnerable children and families must be coordinated and leveraged to have the greatest possible impact. This has never been truer than it is today – a time when we face finite resources and an increased emphasis on outcomes and accountability.
This public-private partnership includes eight partner organizations that collectively invest more than
$2 billion in the state’s child welfare system. In addition, more than 40 organizations serve on the Advisory Committee.
The Partnership works to improve child welfare outcomes in three ways:
Promoting strategic approaches.
Identifying and seeding promising ideas, monitoring outcomes,
and advocating for resources
to sustain and spread
proven strategies.
Championing key investments.
Collaborating with child
welfare investors and other key stakeholders on
statewide investments.
Informing policy makers.
Providing key decision makers and the public with information they need to ensure that public policies support promising practices.
Impact in 2008
Promoting Strategic Approaches
The Partnership saw an opportunity to add value to the foster youth education efforts underway by increasing the coordination and alignment between a number of statewide task forces, initiatives and groups. The Partnership’s efforts resulted in:
- An integrated set of education recommendations categorized by the population served.
- The establishment of three work groups to support implementation of the various recommendations.
Championing Key Investments
In the past year, approximately $1.6 million was leveraged through the Child Welfare Services Program Improvement Fund, resulting in a total investment of nearly $3 million in critical child welfare strategies and practices. The Child Welfare Services Program Improvement Fund was established by legislation in 2005 to enable foundations to provide funds to the state which are then matched with federal funds to support emerging programs and practices.
Informing Policy Makers
The Partnership developed public education materials to help its member organizations speak with a consistent and clear voice about the needs of children and families in California and to describe the efforts that are underway to improve outcomes. Materials included:
- A short summary of California’s progress in improving child welfare outcomes.
- An information kit including key facts about child welfare.
- A quarterly publication that highlights California’s performance in improving child welfare outcomes.