
Children, Youth, & Families

What We Fund: Learn about Children, Youth, & Families' funding priorities, objectives, and grantmaking approach

Eligibility Guidelines: Determine if your organization and project are eligible for a Children, Youth, & Families grant.

Geographic Focus: See our geographic parameters for Children, Youth, & Families grants.

How to Apply: Learn how to apply for a Children, Youth, & Families grant.

CHILDREN, YOUTH, & FAMILIES

When all children and families have access to opportunity, society benefits.

The Children, Youth, & Families program funds work in Greater Philadelphia to promote a better early care and education system, more effective and equitable education policies, networks of developmental opportunities for older youth, and improvements to the systems supporting families. Our grantmaking focuses largely on critical transitions in the lives of children as they progress from birth, through early childhood, and into young adulthood.

RELATED NEWS

Project U-Turn Featured on PBS The PBS investigative news magazine Need To Know recently featured Philadelphia's innovative approach to the city's dropout crisis. Watch it here.

Turning Around a School System in Crisis Earlier this year, WPF committed $1.5 million to help the School Reform Commission transform the fiscal and administrative structure that has left Philadelphia’s schools in crisis. Although there is a long road ahead, the new SRC leadership is making substantial progress.

WPF Funds School Reform Commission's Plan to Hire Firm Specializing In Restructuring WPF is investing $1.5 million to help streamline the School District of Philadelphia's operations and create a financially sustainable future.

Project U-Turn: Turning Around Young Philadelphians' Lives by the Thousands The groundbreaking collaborative is drawing national attention as a model to prevent kids from dropping out and for re-engaging those that already have.

Nonprofits and Philadelphia's Lobbying Ordinance - Does it Apply to You? This year, Philadelphia’s first-ever lobbyist registration and disclosure ordinance went into effect. Many nonprofit organizations that interact with city government or with the School District could be required to register as lobbyists and file expense reports. The Committee of Seventy is sponsoring a briefing for the nonprofit community to learn more.

Innovative Business Model Advances Quality Child Care Thanks to a shared services business model, new economies of scale are being realized for child care providers in our region.

Justice Prevails for 4,000 Children Thanks to the tenacity of the Juvenile Law Center, one of the most egregious violations of children’s rights in U.S. history recently resulted in a 28-year federal prison sentence for former judge Mark Ciaverella.

From Evidence to Action PolicyLab at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is reshaping foster care in ways that emphasize stability and permanency for children.

Children’s Stability and Well-Being Study Researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute are studying the effects of placement stability on kids in Philadelphia's foster care system.

Children’s Literacy Initiative – Model Classroom Evaluation Evaluating the success of the Children's Literacy Initiative's kindergarten and first grade Model Classrooms program in the School District of Philadelphia.

Bringing the Arts Back to Philadelphia's Children "Imagine a city and region that commits to the arts as a key tool in transforming communities and keeping youth engaged and successful in and out of school..."

Where We Stand: Community Indicators for Metropolitan Philadelphia Researchers from the Metropolitan Philadelphia Indicators Project at Temple University have released their fourth annual report on the region, providing data and mapping applications for the region’s 353 municipalities.

Pennsylvania's Tax Burden Examined in New Report Pennsylvania ranks favorably among states in overall taxation and spending levels, but the Commonwealth’s tax system is highly regressive, placing a greater burden on the poorest 20 percent of our citizens.

Annotated Bibliography on Research Related to Arts for Children & Youth The Foundation has initiated a community-wide effort to reinvigorate arts education for Philadelphia’s children and youth. The following is a digest of research demonstrating the positive effects of arts education on young people. It is a snapshot of key studies that have influenced the Foundation’s point of view and approach.

Pennsylvania to Invest $75 Million in High-Quality Early Childhood Care The Commonwealth has committed $75 million to create a dedicated funding stream that will provide approximately 11,000 three- and four-year-olds with access to voluntary, high-quality pre-K.

Renovate or Replace? Conceived and produced by a task force representing state agencies and nonprofit partner agencies, Renovate or Replace provides a convincing array of arguments for restoration and reuse of older neighborhood-based schools.

Evaluating Privately Managed Schools in Philadelphia After four years, how are Philadelphia's students performing in elementary and middle schools managed by private operators?

Project U-Turn: Addressing Philadelphia's Dropout Crisis During 2000-2005, about 30,000 students who began ninth grade in Philadelphia left without earning a high school diploma. With support from the Foundation, a new public campaign has been launched to help find solutions to this difficult issue.

Tracking Progress in Camden's Schools To measure progress in New Jersey's school districts receiving court-mandated aid under the Abbott decisions, the Education Law Center is working with partners in Camden and three other districts to produce timely, accessible data on school performance to empower parents, teachers, administrators, and advocates advancing school reform.

Tracking the Graduation Gap With support from the Annie E. Casey and William Penn Foundations, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC) has released a fact sheet illustrating troubling high school dropout rates in the Commonwealth.

Summer Career Exploration Researchers found that implementation was strong, but there was little difference in the long term effects of the program on SCEP students. Nevertheless, the report concludes that SCEP and similar programs have an important place in our region's system of supports, programs and opportunities for young people.