Press Releases

Washington, DC - The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has given the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) a grant totaling $4.5 million over nine years to support the expansion, development, training, and general operation of the CDF Freedom Schools™ Program. The grant is critical to enhancing the quality of services delivered by the CDF Freedom Schools program and is instrumental in facilitating the goal of doubling the number of sites nationally.

"The Kauffman Foundation appreciates the exceptional value of this innovative children's enrichment initiative and its potential to positively impact the lives of many more underserved young people," said Foundation President and CEO Carl Schramm.

Freedom Schools are summer and after-school youth programs that set high expectations for the children and parents they serve. CDF Freedom Schools were started in 1993 under the leadership of Marian Wright Edelman, president and founder of CDF, and the Black Community Crusade for Children —an initiative of CDF to mobilize the African American community to address the needs of children. The main elements of the program are reading enrichment, youth leadership development, parent education, community involvement, intergenerational leadership, and social action. Emphasis is placed on helping children develop a love of reading, practice conflict resolution skills, engage in community service, and understand their responsibility to serve as youth leaders. The Freedom Schools Integrated Reading Curriculum (IRC) features an outstanding selection of adolescent and children's literature—with special emphasis on books written by or about African Americans. The IRC is being expanded to incorporate Hispanic and Asian American children's literature as well.

The Kauffman Foundation began supporting the Children's Defense Fund at the national level in 2002. It has provided funding for local Freedom Schools in Kansas City, Missouri since 1995, and has now expanded support to Kansas City, Kansas and St. Louis, Missouri. The Foundation works with partners to strengthen educational opportunities for children and to improve the lives of their families by creating an environment where they enter school prepared to succeed and become productive, contributing citizens. The Foundation supports youth education programs that advance academic achievement, with a focus on low-income and underserved students.

"The Children's Defense Fund's partnership with the Kauffman Foundation has been instrumental in the success of the CDF Freedom Schools program. Thanks to their most recent grant, we will be able to expand and enhance the program model while we maintain CDF's high standards for excellence in program management and accountability," said Dr. Jeanne Middleton-Hairston, National Director of CDF Freedom Schools. "It is very important that we broaden our curriculum in order to serve more children. The Kauffman grant will help us work with educators, activists, and scholars committed to the vision of Freedom Schools who will help us develop an expanded curriculum that is inclusive and culturally relevant. We also will be able to strengthen our national organizational structure as we establish more partnerships with churches, school districts, colleges and universities, and community-based organizations that hold the same high expectations for all children."

# # #

The mission of the Children's Defense Fund is to Leave No Child Behind and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick, into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown. CDF began in 1973 and is a private, nonprofit organization supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations. We have never taken government funds.