Jim Haj, President & Chief Executive Officer, The Children’s Trust

Invest: sat down with Jim Haj, president and chief executive officer of The Children’s Trust, to discuss how the organization is investing in early childhood education, youth development, school-based health, and neighborhood support across Miami-Dade. “Sometimes it’s not a money issue; it’s an alignment of systems issue,” Haj said.

How has your vision for The Children’s Trust evolved since you became CEO, and how does it guide your priorities today?

The Trust is 23 years old, and I’ve been CEO for the last 10 years. Our mission is to invest in programs that serve children and families, build resilient communities, and help every child reach their potential.

Miami gets a lot of attention right now, but what you see today is the result of decades of intentional work to make this a safer, stronger place. For us, that connects directly to workforce strength. We have 47,000 kids in after-school and summer programs, which means parents can stay employed without rushing home, and kids are safe, supported, and building good habits.

We also invest in school clinics and mental health access so families can get help without sacrificing work hours. Over the last decade, mental health needs have risen, and literacy and school readiness gaps have become more urgent. We stay focused on closing disparities across neighborhoods because we know where kids are born behind the eight ball in this community.

One of our newer priorities is water safety. We’re surrounded by water, and drownings have been the number one cause of death for children ages 1 to 14 that we have seen in Miami-Dade County. We convened partners to scale swim instruction during the school day, with transportation included, so parents are not blocked by logistics. The goal is to train 20,000 four- and five-year-olds each year through Zero Drownings Miami-Dade.

The Trust invests public dollars in many programs. How do you decide which strategies will have the greatest long-term impact?

Our funds come from taxpayer dollars, so fiduciary responsibility comes first. For the 13th consecutive year, we received the Government Finance Officers Association Certificate of Achievement of Excellence in Financial Reporting, and we’ve had perfect audits in recent years.

There’s tremendous need in this community, and our dollars can only go so far, so our board sets a strategic plan with five investment areas.

The first is early child care. This is a crisis nationwide. It’s a workforce issue because child care is one of the top reasons people leave the workforce or do not return. It’s also an education issue because when children enter kindergarten behind, the system is fighting uphill from day one. Affordability matters, too. Housing is often the biggest challenge, but child care is right behind it, and sometimes it is number one.

We invest to expand access and quality, support centers as small businesses, and increase scholarships and supports for families who may be just over income guidelines but still cannot afford care. We also work to offset the benefits cliff, where a family can earn a small raise and lose a benefit worth far more. The goal is to keep more parents in the workforce while children receive high-quality early learning, so by the time they hit kindergarten, the K-12 system is not starting from behind.

The second area is youth development, including after-school and summer programs. The third is health, including school-based clinics and mobile services. The fourth is family and neighborhood supports, which provide wraparound services for families facing multiple challenges at once, whether that’s housing insecurity, food insecurity, or mental health. The fifth is parenting, helping parents be their child’s first and best teacher.

Everything we do is awarded through competitive RFPs. We set outcomes and funding levels, providers apply, and we select high-quality partners.

School-based health and mental health services are increasingly important. What role does The Trust play in expanding access, and what results are you seeing?

We launched investment in health care clinics in schools in 2007, and we are currently in about half of the public schools in Miami-Dade. Miami-Dade is the third-largest school district in the United States, so scale is a major effort.

Over the last two years, we’ve worked with stakeholders to expand services across more schools, including charter schools, and to use multiple delivery methods, including telehealth and mobile units. We now fund roughly $25 million annually for this work, alongside partners such as the Florida Department of Health, the school district, and other local funders.

In practice, the model includes nurses in schools and virtual access to doctors. A parent can join virtually while the child is seen at school, and close to 90% of children return to class. Mental health is a major part of the strategy, with access during the school day and options that can extend after school so families can actually use the services.

Equity is central to The Trust’s work. How do you address barriers that keep some families from accessing services?

Equity is embedded in how we plan and where we invest. Much of our work is targeted at low-income communities based on census tract data and need.

In early child care, some of the highest-need communities once had zero quality child care centers. Our investments helped change that by drawing quality providers into those neighborhoods and supporting families who need access the most. School-based health meets children where they are, and while our after-school and summer programs are broadly available, we also put extra resources into the zip codes where needs are greatest.

How does accountability look when managing a voter-approved funding source, and how do you communicate impact back to the community?

Our annual audit and financial reporting are publicly available, and we are governed by a 33-member board established by state statute to oversee The Trust.

We also communicate outcomes and return on investment. After-school and summer programs support workforce stability for families. Early child care investments support participation in today’s workforce and help children enter school more ready to learn. We also leverage dollars through collaboration, using local funds to draw additional federal and state resources and expand what we can deliver.

Looking ahead, what are The Trust’s priorities over the next few years?

Early child care will remain a major focus, including addressing the fiscal cliff issue for working families and aligning more leaders around solutions. We also see opportunity in partnering with large employers and new industries coming to Miami, aligning resources around priorities like early child care, health access, youth internships, and safety initiatives like Zero Drownings Miami-Dade.

Literacy remains critical. If a child is not reading at grade level by third grade, it becomes much harder to change their trajectory. That’s why we focus on literacy from early child care through after-school supports, including programs with certified teachers helping students build strong reading skills.

Beyond funding programs, what else is essential to The Trust’s ability to drive outcomes?

Not only are we a funding organization, but equally important is our ability to convene.

Sometimes it’s not a money issue; it’s an alignment of systems issue, and bringing partners together is how we turn good intentions into measurable outcomes. Over the last 10 years, we’ve convened partners around initiatives like summer youth internships and Zero Drownings Miami-Dade, where coordination is as important as dollars.

Another example is youth soccer. With major global attention on soccer and major events coming to Miami, partners such as Griffin Catalyst invested in building 50 soccer pitches in high-need communities. Our role is to connect that infrastructure to programming that keeps kids engaged, supported, and on a positive path.