Our History and Impact
​Kids in Common (KiC) was created in 1985 by Santa Clara County Supervisor Dianne McKenna and Juvenile Court Judge Len Edwards, and became incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 1993. In 1997, Kids in Common merged with The Children’s Collaborative, founded by then-Supervisor Zoe Lofgren. After 25 years of immeasurable impact and dedicated, successful service to Santa Clara County, KiC's long-standing Executive Director, Dana Bunnett, retired on June 30th, 2025, and was succeeded by Joy Murrieta, who had served as the Co-ED with Dana since December 2024.
KiC was founded with the intention of providing a voice for the needs and concerns of children, and the Children’s Collaborative brought children’s needs together with businesses and organizations that had the resources to meet those needs. Both of these legacies are present in the work of KiC today as we continue to work to improve the lives of children in Santa Clara County.
The Need
Communities need improved and equitable outcomes in education, health, child welfare, social-emotional wellbeing, and the juvenile justice systems for youth in Santa Clara County, especially for those from marginalized groups.
Why it Matters
Children of color and other marginalized groups in Santa Clara County experience disproportionately high rates of adverse outcomes in education, health, child welfare, and the juvenile justice systems. KiC brings together community members and key decision makers to address these challenges.
50%
Reducing Suspensions:
KiC’s advocacy has contributed to a 50% reduction in school suspensions over the past decade, from 17,591 in 2012 to 8,636 in 2022.
82%
Supporting Vulnerable Students:
The 2024 Summer School Attendance Challenge achieved an 82% completion rate for participants from justice, foster, and homeless programs, allowing them to earn credits.
Policy Impact
KiC champions policies with elected officials and other policymakers that positively impact children and youth. Locally, some of the policies KIC successfully supported include:
Improving the juvenile justice system through a policy prohibiting children under the age of 13 from serving time in juvenile hall and preventing the use of pepper spray in juvenile hall.
Ensuring that attorneys representing children and families in the child welfare system have funding to support effective attorney-to-client ratios.
Supporting a declaration of a mental health/substance use crisis in Santa Clara County and the building of an aligned and integrated system of care to address this crisis.
Supporting the development of the Opportunity Youth Academy to reengage youth ages 16 to 25 who have left high school without a diploma.
Building out a high-quality, accessible, and early-care education system.
Supporting universal developmental screenings in pediatric healthcare settings.
Reinstating a new and improved School-Linked Services initiative.
Promoting systems improvements that lead to better education outcomes for youth in the justice system.
2011
Thanks to KiC, Santa Clara County adopted Child Impact Statements to ensure Board of Supervisor communications make the needs of children a primary consideration in budget and other decision-making processes.
KiC championed implementing a School Readiness Assessment to help us better understand what impacts children’s preparedness for school.
KiC captured the attention of the Aspen Institute for Community Solutions that selected Santa Clara County to be part of the Opportunity Youth Forum, bringing resources to Santa Clara County to build an education-to-career pipeline for our most vulnerable youth who are young parents, experiencing homelessness, or were engaged in the child welfare or justice systems.
Members of the Children’s Agenda Network and KiC championed the adoption of a Children’s Budget by Santa Clara County. This annual budget presents the financial data for all child-and youth-oriented services in the county, illuminating current investments in our children and families.
2013
2018
2019
Members of the Youth Liberation Movement partnered with KiC to create a Youth Bill of Rights grounded on the ideas and wisdom of young people.
2022
Overseeing the 2024 Summer School Attendance Challenge – A joint project of the SCCOE Education Equity committee and Juvenile Court Aligned Action Network (JCAAN), piloted a summer school attendance challenge that provide Target Gift cards at the beginning and end of the 3-week summer school sessions offered in ESUHSD and Gilroy School District targeting students 15+ credits behind and engaged in the justice system, foster care system and McKinney Vento. We had 96 students participating and a summer school session completion rate of 83%.
