In 1985, a small group of Texans joined together to form the "CARE Coalition” (Children Abused, Rejected and Endangered) for children, aiming to provide a more unified voice to the needs of Texas children. The coalition's purpose was to influence state decisions in many areas to improve the lives of children.
Phil Strickland, director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, chaired the group for many years. He went about this work by gathering information about what children in communities needed, determining what state policies could make a difference, and ensuring Texas legislators got the word. Each year, the coalition brought more victories for children and families in Texas.
In 1996, the CARE Coalition incorporated as a nonprofit organization. Now called Texans Care for Children, the agency became the only multi-issue children's advocacy group in the state. Texans Care brought together a vast array of public, private, and nonprofit partners for the sole purpose of improving Texas children's lives.
Among Texans Care for Children's accomplishments are the following:
Facilitating the establishment of a Council on Children and Families, consisting of top-level state agency leaders, to ensure children's needs are met;
Pushing for passage of laws that provide health care coverage for more than a million previously uninsured Texas children;
Working successfully to bring about improvements for major state agencies through reforms to Child Protective Services and juvenile justice systems in TExas;
Improving children's access to nutrition and physical education in schools and communities through policy advocacy to prevent childhood obesity;
Giving hundreds of thousands of low-income families free parenting guides to support their children's health and development;
Bringing together families, nonprofit groups, and policy leaders each month to arrive at consensus about policy solutions and strategies for children's health, safety, financial security at home, mental health, and juvenile justice;
Getting Texas to increase its investment in quality early education and preschool programs;
Providing advocacy training to hundreds of regular Texans throughout the state so they could be a voice for children on issues that matter to them;
Bringing champions for children to Austin for days at the Capitol every legislative session to give voice to children's needs;
Garnering widespread media attention for and raising public awareness about children's issues, including through the publication of research about conditions for Texas children.
In 1985, a small group of Texans joined together to form the "CARE Coalition” (Children Abused, Rejected and Endangered) for children, aiming to provide a more unified voice to the needs of Texas children. The coalition's purpose was to influence state decisions in many areas to improve the lives of children.
