The Future We Built Together
The problem
As a nation, we have come a long way in how we support the next generation. Orphanages have effectively disappeared thanks to major legislation such as the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (1974), the Adoption and Safe Families Act (1997) and the Family First Prevention Services Act (2018). In the last 75 years, the US infant mortality rate has declined by over 80%. And we are getting more innovative, using health care funding to address social needs such as nutrition, transportation and housing support through, for example, Medicaid 1115 waivers.
However, there’s still more work to do. Because right now:
1 out of 9 young people between the ages of 16 and 24 – or 5 million young people – are not engaged in education or employment,
Nearly 40% of foster youth become homeless as they transition to adulthood, and
The United States has the 5th highest rate of child poverty among wealthy nations.
The vast majority of voters consider these results to be unacceptable. So, the question is, why are we here and what do we do about it?
How did we get here
There are a lot of reasons why we find ourselves here. For starters, Children aren’t political actors. They cannot vote, hold office, or contribute money to political campaigns. They rely on adults to interpret and act on their interests. Moreover, these adult voices are fractured, most often represented by individual voters in situations where children’s policy simply doesn’t make it to the ballot. Thus, although according to the polling done by First Focus on Children, 89% of voters agree that “investing in children has a large return in a healthy society and a healthy economy,” and 71% agree that “Children’s policy needs and concerns are often an afterthought or dismissed by policymakers,” nothing seems to change.
Additionally, the case for investing in young people is often severely understated. Although not all issues require a monetary intervention, many do, and ALL have a long-term financial consequence to the individual youth, the local economy, and the taxpayer budget. An intervention for a young person has a generational payback period – decades of financial consequences.
For example, each instance of a high schooler dropping out costs taxpayers $272,000 in terms of lower tax contributions, higher rates of incarceration and utilization of welfare benefits. And that is the average – adjusting for certain factors, the number becomes much higher. It also ignores secondary consequences such as impact to the local economy and property values. However, government budget decisions affecting young people are typically only made with a one-year horizon, the discussion beginning with “what did we do last year,” and ending with more “pressing” headline issues. Thus, even taking a 2-5 year investment horizon, using future outcomes to finance current spending, would be a significant improvement to the status quo.
Also, although the federal government is a significant funder and sets policy at the broadest level, most decisions are made at the state, county or even city level. This has lead to a patchwork of inconsistent policies that change as soon as you cross a major river, or in many cases, a county line. It’s certainly true that every community is unique, and people on the ground should be empowered to take the unique aspects of their community into account. However, there are certain truisms that transcend the borders we have drawn up.
Why we exist
Table Sense exists to change all of this. We don’t follow the traditional playbook; we are pragmatic, data driven, and committed to systemic accountability. Our belief is simple: if people’s basic needs are met, communities can thrive, economies can strengthen, and opportunities can be rebuilt. We need to stop acting like this is a zero-sum game, because it isn’t. All prosper when policy and funding is directed the right way.
Here are just a few of the ways we plan to do that:
Showcase voices from the field – the perspectives of youth and adults with lived experience, as well as professionals in the trenches, are often overshadowed. We aim to change that.
Drive consistency with common sense policy – difference between geographies should only exist when there’s a good reason. For example, transportation solutions may look different by region, but clearly it is a threshold issue All young people need addressed in order to achieve other socioeconomic outcomes.
Invest in a generation’s prosperity – whether investing in social enterprises that deliver a double bottom line, or educating policy makers on the long-term ROI of taxpayer funds better spent, we will use finance to unlock capital for current interventions that create lasting future outcomes.
We invite you to join us in reshaping the future. Whether through investment, advocacy, or amplifying these stories, you can help change the outlook of an entire generation.