In 2012, early childhood was identified as a critical area of focus in Whatcom County’s first community health improvement plan and, in 2016, the Whatcom County Health Board declared child well-being a top priority. At the same time, Generations Forward (a community-led coalition) began discussing the lack of child care, housing, and health services that were hindering young children and families. Generations Forward and the Whatcom County Health Department’s efforts highlighted community needs, including a shortage of over 5,800 early learning and care slots in the county and the fact that only 50% of children were entering kindergarten ready to learn, far below Washington state’s 90% target. During this time, the Chuckanut Health Foundation also had been working to ensure every child gets a healthy start, supporting early childhood initiatives and collaborating with community members to strengthen programs that improve child well-being.

Between 2017 and 2020, multiple groups and committees worked toward addressing these issues. This included a policy committee formed by United Way of Whatcom County that expanded and transitioned into a broader group called the Policy, Advocacy, and Funding group. The group worked with Children’s Funding Project to create a fiscal map of the county’s current investments in child well-being and conduct research on potential additional sources of funding. These efforts resulted in the idea for a voter-approved children’s fund. In 2020, members of the group also participated in the Child and Family Well-Being Action Plan Committee and successfully convinced Whatcom County Council to pass their plan to pursue new funding mechanisms to increase the resources available for children. 

Advocates who felt that pursuing a ballot measure was the best way to obtain this additional, dedicated funding created a Children’s Initiative group focused on creating a children’s fund and drafted an ordinance, solicited community feedback, and convinced the county council to place the Healthy Children’s Fund measure on the November 2022 ballot. Then, they launched a campaign—Yes for Whatcom Kids—to support the measure. The Chuckanut Health Foundation collaborated with community members to draft the enabling ordinance and contributed to the campaign supporting the measure. At the end of election night, it looked like the measure would lose after receiving 48% of the vote but, as more results were tallied, the gap narrowed and the measure ended up winning by 20 votes. The Healthy Children’s Fund now invests about $10 million a year to increase access to quality early education and care, improve kindergarten readiness, and support vulnerable children.