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Escambia County, FL’s Children’s Services Council: A November 2020 Ballot Measure Case Study

A case study about how campaign organizers in Escambia County, FL, created a new voter-approved children's fund that will serve children, youth, and families.

Escambia County, FL’s Children’s Services Council: A November 2020 Ballot Measure Case Study

In 2019, a community roundtable of 50 Escambia County leaders came together to address issues facing their children and youth. At the time, the county ranked 47th out of 67 counties in the 2019 Florida Child Well-Being lndex, a comprehensive measure of economic, health, and education outcomes among children.1 To address these issues, the community roundtable launched a campaign to create a voter-established Children’s Services Council (CSC)—an independent governing body with the power to levy taxes and direct the revenue exclusively to services for kids. In November 2020, Escambia County citizens voted to establish a CSC that is projected to raise over $10 million annually for children and youth in the county.