Annie E. Casey Foundation
Inaccessible & Unaffordable Child Care Pushing Parents to Limits
Each year, the Annie E. Casey Foundation drops the KIDS COUNT Data Book—an essential snapshot of how kids are doing across the country. And each year, Fenton turns that data into headlines. In 2023, we zeroed in on the child care crisis, translating complex stats into urgent, human stories that called on policymakers to step up. With tailored messaging for all 50 states, coast-to-coast media coordination, and a national push that hit over 6,400 outlets, we delivered the Foundation’s widest reach yet. Data matters—but only if people hear it.
What We Did
- Strategic Communications
- Earned Media
- Media Relations
- Message Development
- Spokesperson Training
- Editorial Placement
- Grantee Support
- Rapid Response
CHALLENGE
For more than three decades, the Annie E. Casey Foundation has compiled the annual KIDS COUNT Data Book. Using indicators such as economics, health and education, the Data Book ranks how young people fare in each state and nationally.
Every year, Fenton is tasked with securing broad national and state media coverage of the Data Book and its insights. In 2023, we set out to show how the country’s inaccessible and unaffordable child care negatively affects family and child well-being; and call on policymakers to increase resources for child care that nurtures children, meets the needs of families and pays workers fairly.
APPROACH
Fenton deployed compelling and relatable messaging across all media materials, including a national press release; a local template to be tailored to each state’s data; and an op-ed bylined by the Foundation’s president and CEO for Philanthropy News Digest.
We focused on resonant state and national data about the cost of child care and the impact on parents’ careers when they cannot find it, as well as providers’ struggles to meet demand, a depleted workforce and low wages. We shared the Foundation’s insight that the U.S. alone among wealthy nations does not subsidize child care, elevating its call that lawmakers ease the burden on both parents and providers with government funding. A robust Fenton team amplified 50+ state grantees to secure regional coverage while ensuring that their localized press releases reflected campaign messaging. We coordinated grantee interviews and monitored which points broke through.
IMPACT
After eight years of publicizing KIDS COUNT, Fenton secured the widest coverage by far in 2023. Stories appeared in over 6,400 media outlets, including state-focused stories, editorials and op-eds, national print/online stories, broadcast media including TV and radio as well as podcasts.
While focusing on the child care crisis provided a timely news angle for Data Book coverage, many local media outlets also focused on their state’s salient data and rankings in the areas of education, health, economics, and family and community. By focusing on easily understood data points and turning them into storylines, Fenton secured unprecedented media coverage for the Foundation’s largest annual announcement.
