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III. The Response – Shared Responsibility for Improving Student Performance
Support the broader needs of children and their families

The Children’s Cabinet comprises the Directors of the state departments of Administration and its Office of Library and Information Services; Children, Youth and Families; Health; Human Services; Labor and Training; and Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals, the Commissioners of Elementary and Secondary Education and of Higher Education, and the Governor’s Policy Director.

The Cabinet works to achieve three broad outcomes:

  • All children enter school ready to learn.
  • All youth leave school prepared to lead productive lives.
  • All children and youth shall be safe in their homes, neighborhoods and schools.

These outcomes have guided the work of several state-level task forces and committees including:

  • the Rhode Island Policymakers’ Team (sponsored by the Danforth Foundation),
  • the RIDE Strategic Planning Team,
  • the Child Opportunity Zone Family Center Initiative (including Starting Points)
  • the Governor’s Juvenile Justice Task Force.

They also guide the "Starting Right Initiative" – a partnership of the Department of Human Services, RIDE, and the Department of Children, Youth and Families – that has been proposed recently by the Governor and General Assembly. Cabinet outcomes have also guided related initiatives such as: Healthy Schools! Healthy Kids!, and the Rhode Island Keys to Quality Accreditation Project. Healthy Schools! Healthy Kids! is a statewide plan for comprehensive school health programs developed by the School Health Advisory Council, RIDE and the Rhode Island Department of Health, and funded by the United States Centers for Disease Control. The Keys to Quality Project is a collaborative effort of RIDE and the Rhode Island Child Care Training System at Children’s Friend and Service. The project seeks to improve early childhood education of children with and without disabilities by assisting school districts and early childhood programs pursuing accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

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