OUR HISTORY

Invest in Kids was formed in 1998 by a group of attorneys and other community leaders who were dedicated to improving the lives of Colorado’s children and their families. Staff was hired after the organization received its first substantial funding from The Colorado Trust in April, 1999.

To carry out its mission, Invest in Kids employs a three-part strategy:

Identify high quality, research-based programs. Identification consists of:

• Reviewing programs from across the country
• Assessing their effectiveness using Invest in Kids’ program criteria

Facilitate implementation of programs in communities throughout Colorado. Facilitation consists of:

• Convening meetings with local leaders to discuss community needs and how Invest in Kids' programs can help to meet them
• Building broad-based community support with a diverse group of local stakeholders
• Assisting to bring the program to the community once a community has selected it
• Providing technical assistance to support successful program implementation

Promote sustainability of programs. Promotion of sustainability consists of:

• Providing ongoing training and support to local staff
• Garnering and maintaining the necessary political support required for long-term sustainability
• Securing and protecting financial resources to support programs
• Acting as an information resource about the programs

Community Components

Each community is unique and has different strengths and different players involved. Therefore, not all communities will have each of the characteristics listed below and each community will have additional strengths not listed here. That said, Invest in Kids looks forward to working with communities to achieve the following:

• Evidence of Need in the Community
• Broad-based Coalitions Reflecting Wide Community Support
• Extensive Community Involvement
• Strong Lead Implementing Agency
• Realistic Plan for Implementation
• Long-term Commitment to the Program
• Description of and Plan to Deal with Unique Community Issues

Steps to Implementation

The following is a list of steps to take if your community is interested in implementing one of our programs. Again, each community is unique and will have some different steps to take. Similarly, some steps will occur at different times in the process than they might in other sites. Invest in Kids assists communities as they walk through each of the following steps (the list is by no means complete).

• Build a Coalition of diverse stakeholders who can help with planning and act as an advisory board once the program is up and running (e.g. helping to secure media coverage, donations for clients, meet with legislators, etc.)
• Create a Working Group (a subgroup of the broader coalition to work on the nuts and bolts of planning and application)
• Survey Existing Services to maximize service offerings to make sure families are offered the programs that best meet their needs
• Focus on Population to be Served (geographic area, etc.)
• Survey Potential Implementing Agencies/Organizations
• Develop Staffing Strategies
• Develop a Timetable
• Apply for Funding