What Happened in November
- Casey presented twice at the Missouri Coalition of Children’s Agencies Conference this month. The first was a solo presentation with the membership group or CEOs of children’s agencies, specifically discussing Medicaid and how agencies can help us advocate to improve the system. The second presentation was in partnership with Jessica Seitz from Missouri KidsFirst and provided attendees with some Advocacy 101 tips and tricks, emphasizing the importance of coalitions and the power of collaboration in advocacy.
- Craig visited South Carolina with a group of 11 leaders from Missouri, as part of the Governor’s Office grant through the National Governor’s Association, geared at working on policy development issues related to Prenatal-Three Year Olds.
- Brian participated in a panel with Jeanette Mott-Oxford from Empower Missouri and Shawn D’Abreu from Missouri Health Care for All to update leaders from across Missouri on state policies impacting children.
- Kids Win Missouri is working to include the voices of professionals and families directly impacted by our work. Our goal is to make sure that the policies we are working to advance actually work for those who are impacted by them or those responsible for implementing them. Casey worked this month to produce a best practices report based on what we’ve learned, and continued meeting with partners in Kansas City, St. Louis, Jefferson City – and many more by phone – to develop strategies around incorporating more grassroots voice into our work. Be on the lookout for more opportunities in the future to engage families, community members, and providers in our policy development and advocacy.
- Kids Win Missouri is serving as chair of the Child Advocacy Day committee for the next two years. The planning kicked off this month, and we are coordinating volunteers to work on things like registration, awards, workshops and the rally. If you are interested in participating, stay tuned for more information – coming soon. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Casey Hanson at chanson@kidswinmissouri.org.
- As the legislative session approaches, Craig has traveled to many parts of the state visiting with policymakers to discuss Kids Win Missouri’s policy priorities
What’s happening in December?
- Prefiling for legislation is now open. We will keep you updated in coming weeks as we see legislation filed that will impact children.
- Don’t miss our Quarterly Meeting! It’s our last opportunity to get together before 2020, and we’ll have some great champions for children in attendance to give a preview of the upcoming legislative session. RSVP here.