The Best Place for Kids!® is a whole-community approach to ensuring:
1) every child has access to a quality education starting at birth,
2) families are connected with key local resources, and
3) businesses are supported with research-backed strategies that benefit working parents AND their bottom line.

Our movement was ignited by data that showed that while Fort Worth stands as the 13th largest city in the nation and boasts the fastest-growing employment sector, 77% of our students were not able to reach the educational attainment they needed to thrive in today’s economy.* Over the last seven years, our local community has collaboratively worked to build a brighter future for Tarrant County by strengthening the supports available to local children and families – from cradle to career.

*65% of Tarrant County jobs require a postsecondary credential (Source: NSC, McKinsey & Company Workforce Supply & Demand)

We believe that by working together, we can build a community where all kids have the chance to succeed, families are supported, and businesses thrive.

Why Our Educational Supports Start at Birth:

The Early Years Set the Trajectory for Learning & Life Success

The first three years of a child’s life are when the brain is developing at its most rapid rate – with 1,000 new neural connections forming every second. Children who are exposed to quality child care are more likely to graduate high school, have better health and educational outcomes, and earn a higher wage in their later years. (Source: 2015 JPMorgan Chase & Co. Dallas – Fort Worth Skills Gap Report)

Quality Child Care Is Needed for Working Families

Attracting and retaining a highly productive workforce today entails providing quality, dependable child care options for working parents. 60% of local non-working parents of young children claim child care as one of the top five reasons they do not participate in the workforce.

Employers Need to Attract and Retain a Competitive Workforce

To sustain Fort Worth – the fastest-growing large city in the U.S. – local businesses must be equipped with family-friendly policies, child care partnership opportunities and other innovative strategies that help to attract, retain, and maximize the performance of top talent. Check out our Best Place for Working Parents® network of businesses that are leading the way in family-friendly policies.

What We Do

The Best Place for Kids!® is a public-private partnership focused on ensuring every child is on a path to learning and life success – from cradle to career. Together with leaders from philanthropy, education, health care, business, nonprofit, and our local cities and counties, we are employing a whole-community, whole-child approach to build a more connected, supportive local ecosystem that enables students and families to thrive.

The Best Place for Kids!® effort centers on three key strategies:

1

Proactively connecting families with educational and health opportunities to promote their children’s success from birth to career

2

Supporting businesses with family- friendly strategies that help working parents AND businesses’ bottom line through our Best Place for Working Parents® initiative

3

Informing community partner strategies and lifting up local family resources through integrated child health and educational data

Whether you are a community nonprofit, business leader, foundation, nonprofit, or educator – we hope you will join our partnership, take advantage of the resources we have to offer, and be a part of a brighter future for all of us. Contact us today to learn more!