Tackling Big Issues Together: The Story of One Funders Network Promoting the Mental Health of Young Children

In 2012, Rose Community Foundation and the Caring for Colorado Foundation supported an environmental scan on children’s behavioral health to better understand challenges and opportunities for philanthropic investment. In the wake of the report’s release they established the Funders Learning Network on Early Childhood Mental Health, an organization of more than 10 community, private, and family foundations, to develop shared strategies for promoting the behavioral health of young children and families. This article examines the evolution of the network from a learning collaborative to an incubator for jointly funded initiatives. Among its collaborative funding efforts is LAUNCH Together, a five-year, $11.4 million initiative to support the behavioral health of young children and their families. While the network is still new, there are early signs of progress and lessons learned. Measures reflecting changes in grantmaking among network members, increased availability of behavioral health services for children and families, and progress by network members in their own collaborative practices all point to promising results