While our name has changed throughout the years, our commitment to North Carolina’s children has never wavered.
When NC Child began in 1983, we were known by another name: the NC Child Advocacy Institute. Later, the name changed to Action for Children North Carolina. In 2014, Action for Children North Carolina merged with the Covenant with North Carolina’s Children and we officially became NC Child.
For more than 40 years, NC Child has worked with lawmakers, community-centered organizations, state and local health agencies, and parents and families to advocate for policies that improve the lives of all North Carolina children.
NC Child championed policies that led to improvements in the state’s lead poisoning prevention program, which eliminated exposures to lead for thousands of children each year. NC Child was instrumental in the passing of “Raise the Age” legislation, which helps to keep teens in the juvenile justice system out of adult jails. NC Child’s advocacy efforts also helped lead to the establishment of the NC Child Fatality Task Force, where NC Child remains an active member.
In recognition of the impact health care access has on child and family health outcomes, NC Child stepped forward as a statewide leader in expanding Medicaid in North Carolina. NC Child served as one of the founding members of Care4Carolina, a statewide coalition dedicated to galvanizing support from healthcare organizations, business leaders, and community organizations and advocating for Medicaid Expansion. In this work, NC Child engaged with parents and caregivers across the state to uplift their experiences around health care access and ensured that family voices were included in advocacy efforts. Through NC Child’s leadership and involvement in this broad, bipartisan coalition, Medicaid Expansion was passed in North Carolina in 2023.
NC Child is a leading source of research and a reliable resource for policymakers and child advocates. In 1986, we were the first organization to release an annual state-level statistical report on children and families, called the North Carolina Children’s Index. In 1990, the Annie E. Casey Foundation designated NC Child as their North Carolina affiliate for the publication for their annual KIDS COUNT Data Book. In 1997, NC Child and the North Carolina Institute of Medicine (NCIOM) began partnering to release a biannual compilation of child health data called the Child Health Report Card.
Through our Child Advocacy Network, Youth Advocacy Council, Parent Advisory Council, and EarlyWell Family Leaders Program, we engage with and uplift the voices of children and families in every corner of North Carolina.
NC Child believes that community engagement, data and research, and engaging elected officials are key to creating lasting change for children in the State of North Carolina.
For all our accomplishments over the last 40 years, none of them would have been possible without the dedication of child advocates across our state. From Murphy to Manteo, we are proud to partner with family and community leaders to advance policies that improve the lives of all North Carolina children.
Action for Children North Carolina was founded in 1983 as the NC Child Advocacy Institute, to ensure that North Carolina’s children were healthy, safe, well-educated, and had every opportunity for success in life.
Action for Children used research, data analysis, advocacy, and education to influence a broad cross-section of people and policymakers across the state.
Action for Children played a prominent role in successful campaigns leading to the establishment of high-impact, legacy programs and initiatives. Those initiatives include the likes of Smart Start, created in 1993. Over the last 20 years, Smart Start’s efforts have nearly doubled the number of young children attending high-quality child care programs in our state.
The organization also campaigned for the establishment of the Child Fatality Task Force in 1991. The results are more than 20,000 children’s lives saved through policies ranging from safe infant surrender laws, to improved driver education.
The Covenant with North Carolina’s Children was founded in 1996 to give children a stronger voice at the state legislature. The Covenant was a membership-based organization composed of more than 50 service providers, professional associations, and other advocacy groups who worked together to identify the most pressing issues facing children and to take action on those issues.
For nearly two decades, the Covenant played a major role in tackling the most important public policy decisions facing children. The Child Advocacy Network still includes many former Covenant members.
NC Child was created on January 1, 2014 through a merger of Action for Children North Carolina and the Covenant with North Carolina’s Children, two organizations with a long history of effective advocacy for our state’s children.
We advance public policies to ensure that every child in North Carolina has the opportunity to thrive – whatever their race, ethnicity, or place of birth.
Since 2014 NC Child and our partners have advanced policy changes that make our kids’ lives better, including:
We still have so much more to do. Find out how you can get involved!
