A Decade of Proof That Community Changes Schools
Since 2013, Caring for Kids has turned community goodwill into measurable results for Kansas City schools. Here’s what an independent study found when it looked at the difference we’ve made.
Good Intentions Alone Don’t Build Lasting Change
When Caring for Kids started in 2013, plenty of businesses, congregations, and civic groups already wanted to help local schools. What was missing was the connective tissue: a way to match willing partners to a school’s real, specific goals, and a way to keep that partnership going past a single semester or a single event. Without that structure, goodwill stays scattered. Schools juggle one-off donations and short-term volunteers instead of a coordinated plan, and principals are left to build the connections themselves, on top of everything else already on their plate.
That’s why Caring for Kids was founded.
We Built the Backbone That Was Missing
Caring for Kids Network exists to be what researchers call a “backbone organization”: the connective structure that helps schools and community partners build a common agenda, communicate consistently, and work toward the same goals instead of pulling in different directions. We facilitate the conversations, assign a coach to every partnership, and keep projects on track so a school’s own goals, not ours, drive the work. More than a decade in, that structure is the reason our partnerships last.
Want to start helping today? Download our free guide on 38 ways to serve schools.
What an Independent Study Found About Our Impact
The Sagamore Institute, a nonpartisan research organization, spent a year surveying and interviewing principals, school liaisons, and community partners across our network. Here’s what they found.
New Connections
69% of principals say CFK connected them with community partners they otherwise wouldn’t have found.
More Partners, Together
67% of principals say CFK helped them build more community partnerships than they could have on their own.
Partnerships That Last
68% of school liaisons say CFK has enabled longer-lasting community partnerships.
Built Around Your Goals
71% of school liaisons say CFK partnerships genuinely align with the principal’s own goals for the school.
A More Effective Partnership
56% of principals and liaisons say CFK’s infrastructure has made the school’s partnerships more effective.
A Warmer School Culture
More than half of principals credit CFK partners with a very substantial influence on building a warm, welcoming school culture.
Stronger Family Involvement
Two-thirds of principals say CFK partners have strengthened parent involvement at their school.
Real Support for Struggling Families
85% of school liaisons say CFK has enhanced their ability to effectively serve low-income families.
Better Teacher Morale
More than 80% of principals say CFK partner activities have improved teacher morale.
Improved Student Attendance
61% of principals say CFK partners have had a substantial or moderate influence on improving student attendance.
More Positive Role Models
44% of liaisons say CFK partners have significantly increased the number of positive role models in students’ lives.
More Supportive Adults in Kids’ Lives
41% of liaisons say CFK partners have significantly increased supportive adult relationships in students’ lives.
Students Feel Valued
38% of liaisons say CFK partners have significantly helped students feel valued by the broader community.
Increased Student Hopefulness
38% of liaisons say CFK partners have significantly increased students’ sense of hopefulness.
Faith Partners Lead the Way
42% of our community partners are religious congregations, showing up as mentors, volunteers, and program leaders.
A Ripple Effect Beyond CFK
71% of partners say working with CFK made them more likely to collaborate with other organizations, too.
The Best Is Still Ahead
A decade of partnerships has taught us where the real opportunity is next.
Growing Toward Self-Sufficiency
Our goal has always been to work ourselves out of a job. As partnerships mature, schools take on more ownership until they’re running things independently, with CFK as a resource rather than a requirement.
Bringing the Model Beyond Kansas City
We’re now coaching organizations in other cities to build the same kind of lasting school partnerships we’ve spent over a decade refining here.
A Ripple Effect That Keeps Growing
71% of our community partners say working with CFK made them more likely to collaborate with other organizations too, extending our impact well past our own network.
More Schools, More Partners, Every Year
From a handful of partnerships in 2013 to over 145 schools and 485 community partners today, our network keeps growing right alongside the need.
Want to start helping today? Download our free guide on 38 ways to serve schools.
Wondering If You Can Help a Local School?
If your organization cares about kids, there is a place for you here. Businesses, faith communities, nonprofits, and civic groups all partner with schools the same way, through the same process, with the same coaching behind them. You do not need experience in education. You just need to be willing to show up.
Businesses
Give your team a meaningful way to serve, earn real goodwill in the community, and open doors to mentoring, internships, and career pathways for local students.
Faith Communities
Serve the neighborhood right outside your doors. Faith communities of every size find that a school partnership gives their people a clear, steady way to love their city.
Nonprofit Organizations
Reach the families you already serve in the place they gather every day, and collaborate with other partners at the same school instead of working on your own.
Civic Organizations
Police, fire, government offices, and service clubs bring trusted faces into schools and show students what it looks like when a community takes care of its own.
Want to start helping today? Download our free guide on 38 ways to serve schools.
See Us in Action
Our events are where the numbers above come to life, principals, partners, and coaches in the same room, building on everything a decade of partnership has taught us.
- Lunch & Learns, where new partners learn how the process works
- Partnership kickoffs, where schools set their goals for the year with returning and new partners
- The Heart of a Champion Gala, our biggest fundraiser, honoring standout community partners and awarding student-submitted Big Dreams
Join a Lunch & Learn
We host regular lunch and learns about how you can partner with a school. We cover Our proven 4-step process for community partnerships, what a partnership looks like day to day, and how to start your project.
We finish with time for your questions, whether you are brand new to this or you have served a school for years and want to do it better.
Join our next Lunch & Learn to see how you can serve your local schools.