James Haj, President & CEO, The Children’s Trust

Invest: sat down with James R. Haj, president and CEO of The Children’s Trust, to discuss the organization’s efforts to support children and families in Miami-Dade County, and collaborations with local government, community based organizations, and businesses to address critical issues such as housing, childcare, and mental health.

How has the Children’s Trust operated and evolved over the past 12 months?

Our board of directors approved over $200 million last year to support children and families in our community, which is quite unique on a national scale.   Few places invest that amount to support their youngest residents, but Miami-Dade is future-focused. Investing in children early on yields significant returns, both socially and economically. The foresight shown by Miami-Dade, which led to the establishment of The Children’s Trust, has paid off. September 2022 marked our 20th anniversary, and it was a great year.

Our funding is allocated primarily through an RFP process, where we procure services in a rotating, five-year cycle. For example, last year, we focused on our Books for Free program, which provides books to children and supports reading development. Many young children need additional support in literacy, and we know how crucial third grade reading proficiency is. We also fund The Children’s Trust Parent Club, helping parents navigate the challenges of raising children, especially when they are working multiple jobs and may need extra support. We strive to offer resources for families, knowing that parenting doesn’t come with a handbook.

We launched our Innovation Fund to encourage creative thinking and problem-solving outside of our usual prescriptive processes. This fund allows us to find new ways to support children and families in Miami-Dade, and it’s been incredibly successful.

One major initiative we’ve led is in drowning prevention. Miami-Dade has been affected by child drownings for decades. Drowning is the leading cause of death of children ages 1-9 in Miami-Dade. That is why we launched the Zero Drownings Miami-Dade initiative, working with partners like the school system, the county, and the American Red Cross to provide 10 free swimming lessons for 4- and 5-year-olds as a two-week field trip as part of their school day. We aim to train 20,000 children annually in water safety. Our efforts culminated in a community announcement with the mayor, superintendent and various other partners where we celebrated the children learning these life-saving skills.

How do fluctuating property values and economic pressures in Miami-Dade impact your ability to sustain key programs?

Funding for The Trust is solely based on property taxes. As you know, Miami-Dade property values have skyrocketed, and due to that so has our revenue. We have a lot of new wealth coming into the city, with big tech companies and other industries moving here. However, the need for services is also growing. Housing is a huge issue, as is childcare, which is becoming a national topic. We are leading initiatives around the childcare crisis, as well as working on housing solutions for foster youth, and homeless youth and families. 

Even though property values are rising, the demand for services continues to increase. Many lower-income employees are being pushed to the outer parts of the county, so we’re also working to ensure we have programming in place where we anticipate future growth. We’re at an all-time high in terms of funding, but we are very proud of the fact that we’ve also achieved our lowest management expenses in The Trust’s history. Despite expanding our programmatic services by nearly $100 million, we’ve reduced our operational costs every year.

How have you managed to keep expenses low as demand continues to rise?

Our board has been very smart. Although it’s not the most exciting investment, we’ve prioritized technological systems. Before COVID, we made key investments in technology that allowed us to continue operating smoothly when the pandemic hit. We could walk out the door with our laptops and keep everything running remotely. Sometimes, boards don’t like investing in things they can’t immediately see or touch, but these systems are vital.

We recently launched a new financial system and a new website. We’ve also developed data dashboards to track program performance, academic achievement, attendance, and budget expenditures. This kind of infrastructure is necessary for us to stay efficient. We’ve also built systems to make life easier for the community based organizations we fund. Many of them focus on the direct services they provide to children and families, and we need to ensure that their reporting and invoicing processes for our funding are as simple as possible.

How does the challenge of transportation impact your programs, and are there any initiatives to address this issue?

Transportation is a huge issue in Miami, and it’s only getting worse. One of the ways we try to address this issue is by encouraging after-school providers to offer services directly in schools. That way, children don’t have to travel — they just walk down the hallway to participate in the programs. We work closely with schools on facilities agreements to make this happen.

On our website, we have a Find a Program search feature where parents can type in their zip code and find after-school and summer programs, parenting programs, or childcare centers near them. This is important because some parents may prefer to have their children near their work, while others might need services close to home. We aim to provide flexibility so that families can access the resources they need without being hindered by transportation challenges.

What stands out to you about how the city has transformed from 2014 to 2024?

I’ve lived in Miami my whole life, and the changes have been dramatic. Miami used to be more of a rural city, and in the last 30 years, it has transformed into a vibrant, global metropolitan hub. The 1980s were tough, with issues like the Mariel boatlift, drug problems, and civil unrest. But the city has bounced back, and today, it’s a place people from all over the world want to visit and live in.

Over the past five years, the three biggest issues we’ve seen are transportation, housing, and childcare. Housing has become incredibly expensive, and there’s a real crisis in early childcare. This isn’t just a social issue — it’s an economic issue. Childcare is the number one reason people leave the workforce or do not return to it. The business community is starting to recognize this as well.

At The Trust, we invest about $50 million annually in early childcare programs. We fund scholarships for families and direct them to high-quality centers that we rate. We ensure that children not only get care but also receive a strong educational foundation. This is important because about 45% of children entering kindergarten are not ready to learn. If we can increase that number, we can change the trajectory for these kids, which in turn helps the community that we all love.