Grant Period:
2021-2023
Grant Type:
General Support
Other Funders:
Oregon Community Foundation JB and MK Pritzker Family Foundation W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Amount:
$150,000 per year for 2 year
Location:
Oregon, United States
Focus Area:
Statewide
Mission
Family Forward Oregon is a C3 nonprofit organization leading a movement to value the work of caregiving in Oregon.
Partnerships
Oregon Child Care Coalition: PCUN, Unite, APANO, PAALF, Children’s Institute, SEIU, AFSCME, and more
More Information
Website:
http://www.familyforwardoregon.org/
Contact
Project Summary
The purpose of this grant is to build grassroots power and policy expertise in order to shift culture and policy in Oregon to value caregiving -- advancing economic security for women and families, and reducing the racial inequalities among women. Building on a successful push for the legislature to create a Child Care Task Force in 2019, Family Forward and its partners will work to include the voices of low-income women in that process. Family Forward will serve as the lead agency for the grant, and will subgrant to community-based, culturally specific organizations.
Family Forward is building regional, grassroots Action Teams of mothers and caregivers focused on the need to support caregiving and caregivers. They currently have developed four strong Action Teams in different regions. The Teams meet monthly for training, community-building, and some sort of action; they also meet across teams a few times annually. Teams are learning together about how issues of power and oppression affect their experiences, the factors that contribute to maternal poverty, what the child care crisis is, how government works, the importance of voting, why their voices are critical and how to have a voice in the policy-making process. They are also gaining specific advocacy and organizing skills and will be deeply involved throughout a universal child care campaign.
Family Forward will also staff the Oregon Child Care Coalition, and will support the following organizations with subgrants to engage their staff and parent members in the policy-making process. The partners are:
- Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN)/Willamette Valley Law Project, which empowers farm workers and working Latinx families by building community and increasing Latinx representation in policy advocacy.
- Unite Oregon, which organizes immigrants, refugees, people of color, and low-income Oregonians to impact public policy, participate in elections, and assume positions of leadership.
- Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO), which is a statewide, grassroots organization uniting Asians and Pacific Islanders to achieve social justice.
- Portland African American Leadership Forum (PAALF), which helps the Black community imagine the alternatives they deserve and build the political participation and leadership to achieve them.
Selected Action Steps Related to RCCF Goals
Lift parent, child care teacher, home-based child care provider, caregiver and ally voices and increase their participation in crafting policy solutions in states and/or communities
- Partner organizations will train and support parent leaders and policy staff from their organizations to participate in the task force and to participate in establishing values, goals and policy concepts.
- At least 30 parents and providers testify or otherwise share their stories and perspectives with decision-makers
- Work with impacted parents and providers to write Op-Eds and letters to the editor and submit in several different media markets across the state
Build effective coordination among RCCF grantees and advocacy groups, community groups, parents, child care teachers, home-based child care providers, caregivers, and allies
- Convene and facilitate regular meetings among advocacy groups to bring together impacted parents, all types of child care providers, caregivers and allies.
- Work with the Child Care Coalition to develop agreed-on set of values to guide our work together.
- Share leadership and responsibilities to organize constituencies across partners into a coordinated advocacy effort.
Expand financial resources to secure increased and equitable access to quality child care, including through intentional strategies to reach and prioritize children and families most affected by injustice and inequity
- Work one-on-one with legislators and administrative staff on the task force to influence direction and approach.
- Ensure Task Force recommendations and legislative proposal includes strategies to achieve access to high-quality affordable care for all Oregon families as well as key equity outcomes for child care providers, children and parents.
- Secure legislative champions to support recommendations and call for increased access to high quality child care.
Updated 4/15/2020