Overview

Physical and mental health is foundational for thriving children, and political will is essential to deliver it.

Bold, 501(c)(4)-powered political advocacy made possible by Impact Fellows Action Fund is helping drive policy wins and real, systemic change in physical and mental health for young children and their families.

Fellows in three states—North Carolina, Oregon, and Colorado—benefit from Impact Fellows Action Fund’s support as they lobby to pass vital legislation and elect champions for children’s physical and mental health.

Colorado: Winning Pro-Health Policies and Funding

Healthier Colorado’s mission is to ensure that all Coloradans have the opportunity to live a healthy life.

Funds for political advocacy provided by Impact Fellows Action Fund propelled a series of enacted legislative victories for Healthier Colorado including:

• Senate Bill 25-017, which codifies HealthySteps to ensure young children are screened early, referred to services, and supported from birth. News coverage of the governor signing the bill into law highlighted the role Healthier Colorado played in getting the legislation passed.
• House Bill 25-1002, which requires insurance companies to provide parity between mental and physical health coverage for private commercial plans, an important step toward early and equitable mental health intervention for children.
• Senate Bill 25-290, which provides emergency stabilization funding for frontline health providers securing access to physical and mental health services amid widespread Medicaid coverage loss.

A key part of Healthier Colorado’s strategy is its annual legislative scorecard, which tracks and ranks legislators based on how they vote on pro-family and pro-health policies. The scorecard equips advocates, community members, and voters with the information they need to understand how legislators are voting. Then voters use it to demand action from their Representatives and Senators.

Oregon: Access to Health Care for All

Family Forward Action believes that all Oregon’s children and parents should have their physical and mental health care needs met. This includes immigrants and non-U.S. citizens.

With support from Impact Fellows Action Fund, Family Forward Action has achieved legislative wins that support children’s and parents’ physical and mental health, including: maternal and infant health and Medicaid to all families who need it.

Health insurance is of particular concern to Family Forward Action because they know coverage brings stability and dignity to families. Without it, a single illness or injury can devastate a family’s finances—especially for mothers and caregivers already navigating unaffordable child care, unpaid labor, or part-time work without benefits.

Currently, Family Forward Action is working on a campaign for a single-payer health care system so that health insurance access would not be defined by which employer someone works for. The current system—in which families have to change health insurance plans and providers anytime the parent changes jobs—means that children often do not have access to the same pediatrician over the years. This lack of consistency can weaken the support children are receiving for their physical and mental health. Family Forward Action intends to change that.

North Carolina: Physical and Mental Health Following a Disaster

Young children’s mental and emotional well-being is critical to learning, social development, and lifelong success. Mental health support isn’t optional—it’s essential to helping children and families thrive. Yet in North Carolina, young children are in crisis, and the state’s mental health system hasn’t kept up.

With backing from Impact Fellows Action Fund, Smart Start Advocates makes clear to legislators that mental health support for young children and families is a political imperative. Families are demanding help, and if candidates aren’t talking about early childhood mental health, they’re not listening to parents. Because parents are.

The devastation of Hurricane Helene exposed and intensified a long-standing crisis in early childhood mental health. A year later, families, child care providers, and early educators continue to report behavior challenges and emotional stress among young children—needs that far exceed current support systems.

With backing from Impact Fellows Action Fund, Smart Start Advocates mobilized quickly, leveraging 501(c)(4) funding to lobby successfully for $10 million in unrestricted disaster relief funds.

These dollars are being used for:

• Trauma-informed training for teachers and caregivers;
• Materials for child care providers to support children and families; and
• Resources to support children’s emotional regulation and healing.

Beyond emergency response, Smart Start is pushing for an additional $15 million in unrestricted funds, part of which would address the ongoing and widespread behavioral health needs of young children. They are lobbying to remove restrictive administrative caps that currently limit Smart Start’s ability to invest in whole-child interventions—including mental and behavioral health supports.

Fueling Electoral and Legislative Wins Across the Nation

As these examples from North Carolina, Oregon, and Colorado make clear, Impact Fellows Action Fund is helping organizations fight for, and achieve, legislative wins that will help ensure the health and well-being of young children and their families. Political muscle is influencing candidates and pressuring lawmakers to support by better health and mental health outcomes for young children and their families.