Every year on the first Monday in April, the governor of Rhode Island, two U.S. senators, members of Congress, the attorney general and state house leaders gather for a breakfast at a hotel in Warwick – 600 attendees all told, to release the annual Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook – a compendium of information on the status and progress of the state’s children. In the audience as well are doctors, media and young people. In fact, there is a brief keynote address by a young person.

Media coverage is extensive – statewide and in local newspapers and websites.

Elizabeth Burke Bryant, executive director for Rhode Island Kids Count since its became a 501c3 in 1997, said that the event exemplifies the three core missions of her organization:

1. Data
2. Communications
3.  Policy Opportunities

“We see those three,” she says, “as an interlinked triangle.”

Rhode Island Kids Count began in 1994 as a project of the Rhode Island Foundation; it became a 501c3 foundation in 1997 – one of the last states to organize a Kids Count organization under the auspices of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which originated the idea of funding state organizations to compile data on the status of children.

The Rhode Island Foundation housed Kids Count for two years – with Burke Bryant as the project manager. When RIKC became autonomous, Burke Bryant became executive director and has been in that position since.

At the core of the Kids Count concept, says Burke Bryant, is that it is important to have reliable data on children. However, she stresses, “Kids Count was never meant to be a data project that would sit on the shelf. It was meant to use data as a communications and policy change tool.”

The data in the Factbook is from the census bureau, as well as from departments within Rhode Island. Says Burke Bryant, “When we started, the data was being collected but not seeing the light of day. We became the vehicles for packaging the data and exposing it to those who needed to see it.”

Burke Bryant says RIKC’s advocacy is data-based , but adds, “We know you need to put a human face on these issues; we know we have kids here to talk about how these things affect them.

“What has guided our growth,” she says, “is that we are  strategic in our use of data. We track data that is important to the outcomes of childrens’ lives and that can be used as a lever than can support policies that help children.”

In the years since RIKC was founded, says Burke Bryant, a lesson learned is that “we know that in an increasingly busy world where elected officials get data and information from so many sources, that our work needs to stand out in terms of reliability and sound research practices. We need to be trusted for anything we put out under our names. We have held ourselves to very high standards and we’re known for that.”

Keeping that in mind, says Burke Bryant, “We need to package information in a way that is accessible to busy policy makers. They need to be able to quickly read the material, understand the trends and options – and not have to deal with academic language.” As a result, the hard copy of the Kids Count Factbook (there is also a Web version) is small enough to fit in a briefcase. It is only 120 pages but has been expanded in the number of included issues from 22 to 68. It is that book that is released at the April breakfast.
“Since we started publishing it,” says Burke Bryant, “we have seen it as a way to bring the community together and to show where we are making progress, where we are falling behind and where we are staying the same.”

Burke Bryant says RIKC sees itself as not just a statewide organization but one that should extend to the state’s 39 cities and towns. As she points out, “We separate data for cities and towns with child poverty rates higher than 15% and there are a half dozen of them. Newport, surprising to many, is one of them.”

While the Factbook is RIKC’s  primary annual report, the organization produces a lot more. One is a quarterly Issue Brief series, published online. A typical subject might be on the importance of reading by the end of third grade. The Issue Briefs are 12 to 20 pages in length and seek to identify an important public policy issue that needs more exposure.  
When an Issue Brief is produced, RIKC assembles a group of 20 to 30 to discuss the findings, and to come up with recommendations for implementation.

"With all these initiatives,” says Burke Bryant, “if we find a template that works, we tend to keep it up.” However, she adds, “We have to be nimble and responsible about public policy opportunity moments for kids. We can’t be rigid. “

On another media front RIKC produces a monthly cable television show on a public access channel. The show is taped and is aired three different times – Sundays at 10:30 AM and 8 PM, and the following Wednesdays at 9 AM.

The half-hour show, says Burke Bryant, has a different guest each month and is, she says, “a great way to get the word out.“

Finally, regular e-news blasts are produced when RIKC is mentioned in the press or when it seems to have an influence on policy; also sent are e-news blasts on  community events or important pieces of legislation. There is frequently feedback on the e-news distribution.

With all its activities, says Burke Bryant, RIKC is intent on being the source of information for data on children in the state. “We are in the news all through the year,” says Burke Bryant. “We have developed relationships with many reporters who cover kids’ issues. They seek us out. As a multi-issue organization, something is happening all the time.”

While Annie E. Casey remains an important supporter, as it is for Kids Count organizations around the country, RIKC receives grants from other national foundations that support “high quality child advocacy.” They include the Packard Foundation Finish Line program (concerned with health insurance coverage), United Way and the Rhode Island Foundation. There is a regular annual solicitation, says Burke Bryant, but 90 percent of funding is foundation-based. Occasionally, says Burke Bryant, there is limited government funding.

However, says Burke Bryant, she is regularly in touch with the national Kids Count office operated by Annie Casey foundation. RIKC maintains the original Kids Count standard that it report out on 10 measurements that can be compared nationally – ranging from infant mortality to graduation. RIKC now measures many more than those ten.

While data is central, she says, her group will meet with key members of the community and out of those meetings, new indicators arise.

In its case, says Burke Bryant, RIKC has gradually added core areas involving economic well being, safety, and education. “We will add indicators as they arise. For instance, in dealing with the community, we realized that children whose parents are incarcerated have special issues.”

As for its own influence, Burke Bryant says, “We have a tremendous network of colleagues through the Kids Count and Voices For America’s Kids networks. We feel it’s a privilege when we can be a model for other states. They do come to us and we share strategies.”

Burke Bryant says that her staff does monitor how its work is used by policymakers and keeps tracks of its appearances in the media. “We always know when a nonprofit uses our information,” she says, “as they make their own case. As such we see ourselves as a clearinghouse.”

In the end, says Burke Bryant, “Every year is an exciting year. We need to set goals and remain determined to move the needle in the direction of positive outcomes for children. Every year we enjoy success stories that give us energy for the year to come.”