We Care for Kids/Por todos los niños Campaign

We Care for Kids/Por todos los niños is a collaborative statewide campaign to build support for quality early childhood education for all Nebraska families and raise awareness concerning the important role of early childhood educators in ensuring that children, families, and communities thrive.154

Although We Care for Kids/Por todos los niños is a relatively recent effort, the concept of a large-scale effort to build public will has been discussed since the Institute’s inception. Susie Buffett knew that the work of the Institute had to extend beyond its four walls— across Nebraska and beyond—and from our earliest days, outreach was highlighted as one of the Institute’s four main areas of focus. Additionally, the release of Elevating Nebraska’s Early Childhood Workforce: Report and Recommendations of the Nebraska Early Childhood Workforce Commission in 2020 called for “building public will and commitment” and further emphasized the need for a statewide public engagement effort.

Research and planning for We Care for Kids/Por todos los niños occurred in 2020–21, and a Campaign Advisory Group that includes 25 Nebraskans was formed in January 2022. The advisory group provides important feedback and counsel to the campaign and serves as ambassadors for the effort, helping to share, amplify, and encourage engagement across the state.

We Care for Kids/Por todos los niños launched publicly in June 2022 with a statewide virtual event kicked off by University of Nebraska System President Ted Carter that featured a panel of state and community leaders who are involved with the campaign. Notably, the campaign is offered in two languages, and Por todos los niños provides Spanish-language materials and resources to reach Nebraska’s growing Latino population. The campaign features websites in English and Spanish that provide information on the importance of quality early childhood education, the essential role it plays in helping families work while raising young children, and what families should look for when seeking quality services. Information is easy to find and is intended to empower parents and families to make informed decisions about quality early care and education for their children. Links to state agency and nonprofit resources and websites are popular, including Nebraska’s new Child Care Referral Network, where families can search for available programs close to where they live or work.

The campaign shines a light on the thousands of early childhood educators who help Nebraska’s economy thrive, providing a platform for them to tell their stories while offering resources and ideas to help Nebraskans support quality early education in their local communities. In addition to the websites, the campaign has developed print, radio, and video ads and public service announcements as part of a robust paid, statewide media plan, and it focuses extensively on digital communications to reach families in ways that are most effective for them.

Campaign staff work across the state to build relationships with key organizations in the field and employ grassroots efforts to engage and organize Nebraska parents, families, educators, and leaders. Virtual town hall meetings highlight local and state voices; the inaugural town hall meeting that was held during We Care for Kids Week in September 2022 attracted nearly 7,500 Nebraskans who logged on to hear from a panel of education, community, and parent leaders and have their questions answered in an engaging hourlong session. The week culminated with the governor designating We Care for Kids Week in a proclamation signing at the state capitol. In the campaign's first six months, We Care for Kids has reached more than 100,000 households across the state through post cards, text messages, phone calls, community events and outreach, and media.

Conceptualized as a partnership effort, the Buffett Institute coordinates the campaign in association with external communications and media firms, and dozens of organizations from across the state participate as campaign partners. The campaign is research-based and includes a comprehensive evaluation being conducted by UNMC’s College of Public Health that is designed help us learn from our efforts and to inform subsequent phases of the campaign. We want to share our experience in Nebraska with others who are interested in this type of public engagement effort.

Funding for the campaign is provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Preschool Development Grant, which is administered by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services in partnership with the Nebraska Department of Education and the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Holland Foundation and the Buffett Institute.

The We Care for Kids campaign … is a commitment of hope that the work of early childhood advocacy continues to rise to the top for all communities, big and small, urban and rural, to be able to solve these issues and work together collaboratively and address the early childhood shortage that we're all facing.