WHICH ISSUE IS RISING AS A TOP CONCERN FOR OUR MEMBERS?
Last month, Children’s Alliance conducted our annual member survey. This survey is one of the many ways that we ensure we are advocating with, not for, the communities we serve.
This year, we received 182 responses from engaged members of our community, including advocates, donors, partners, parents and grandparents. While these members do not represent all of Washington, their responses reflect similar concerns we see in statewide data and hear from our partners across the state.
We asked survey respondents to choose the five children’s policy issues that concerned them the most. Many of their top concerns were among the current priorities of Children’s Alliance, including Mental and Behavioral Health, Early Learning and Child Care, Economic Security for Families, and Racial Equity.
One concern that is not already among the current Children’s Alliance policy priorities was Affordable Housing and Homelessness. This was also among the top five issues of concern reported by Children’s Alliance members in our 2023 survey. In fact, though exact rankings have shifted, the top five policy issue concerns reported on the Children’s Alliance member survey have been largely identical between 2023 and 2024, with one key difference: Economic Security for Families, which came in sixth last year, is now in the top five. This replaced a top concern for Access to Health and Dental Care last year.
The concerns of our members align with recent KIDS COUNT data, which shows that Washington is performing well in some key indicators of health, such as ensuring that children have health insurance, but falling behind other states in key indicators of education and economic well-being. Additionally, in recent meetings with community partners across the state, many echoed our survey respondents in voicing high and growing concern for mental health and affordable housing. You can read more about these meetings in our recent blog post.
What we heard most from our member survey
Children’s Alliance is making progress within our current areas of focus, but the needs of children and families continue to evolve and grow, demanding urgent advocacy in more areas. As we continue meeting with partners and gathering feedback from community members in various ways, we want to thank all of our members who shared their concerns and experiences with us via the member survey this year. Your voice is helping us shape a strong legislative agenda over the coming months and prepare for powerful advocacy in 2025.
To stay updated on our work, please join our email list.