History
The Campaign for the Children's Trust of Alachua County started as a grassroots movement made up of parents, grandparents, child advocates, and local activists. They knew in their hearts there was more our community could do to support our local children and youth. Local data collected and shared by experts who serve children and youth in Alachua County supported those citizens’ beliefs and lived experiences.
As early as 2002, the idea of creating a Children’s Services Council (CSC) in Alachua County was being considered. None of those early efforts gained sufficient momentum to move forward. By 2015, however, certain projects helped crystalize the concept of a CSC. Community members, leaders, and stakeholders, including the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC), the Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce, the University of Florida, Santa Fe College, the Alachua County Children's Alliance, United Way, Partnership for Strong Families, and the Alachua County Public Schools, began to revisit the idea. These citizens and organizations hosted many community input sessions and public meetings to discuss the path forward.
In 2016, the BoCC contracted with the Well Florida Council (wellflorida.org) to conduct a children’s needs assessment, with a focus on children prenatal to 5 years old. The BoCC also voted to establish a dependent Children's Services Advisory Board (CSAB). The CSAB was tasked with recommending innovative and creative programs to serve young children, gather data, consult with existing programs, and ultimately make a recommendation to the BoCC regarding the advisability of creating an independent CSC in Alachua County.
The Campaign for the Children’s Trust of Alachua County conducted polling to ascertain the level of commitment from the community. That polling showed residents supported the initiative, with local voters perceiving literacy, after-school learning, nutrition, and vocational opportunities as the most important things which could be funded, with early learning and return on investment messages receiving the strongest support. In February 2018, the BoCC unanimously voted to move forward with a voter referendum to create and fund the Children’s Trust of Alachua County.
Through these efforts, the Children's Trust of Alachua County was established according to Section 125.901 Florida Statutes and Alachua County Ordinance 18-08. In November 2018, the voters approved the Trust referendum by over 61% of the votes. As a Special Independent District with taxing authority, the Trust can levy up to .5 mil, resulting in annual estimated revenues over $8,000,000.
