Turnaround for Children Inc. (TFC) is an organization that provides services to schools in high-poverty communities designed to address the whole student, by creating safe environments, helping develop relationships, and building skills and mindsets. ¹

TFC was founded based on a study designed to measure the impact on school children of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York City, New York on September 11, 2001. The results demonstrated that while 68% of schoolchildren did suffer trauma that impaired their ability to function in school, it was the result of being raised in poverty not the Twin Towers attack. ²

TFC garnered initial support from left-leaning foundations and the 9/11 Fund, a group of former members of the Fire Department of the City of New York that acquires equipment then donates it along with training to help improve the performance of emergency responders. Now supported by gifts and contributions combined with project revenue, it provides support for schools in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Newark, New Jersey. ^{3 4}

Background

Turnaround for Children Inc. (TFC) was formed as the Children’s Mental Health Alliance in 2002 by Pamela Cantor with support from the 9/11 Fund, the left-leaning Robin Hood Foundation, and the Tiger Foundation. ⁵

TFC was designed to provide programs that help underperforming schools improve their performance via the use of proven techniques to aid students emotionally and academically ⁶

Turnaround’s current model promotes equal outcomes via attention to the whole child. Steps in their process are to create a safe, supportive atmosphere, develop relationships among students and teachers, and then build knowledge and skills. ⁷

TFC began with work at the worst-performing New York City elementary school, where results claimed were an improvement of school climate, and were then appointed as the managing partner for United Way’s Safe Schools Successful Students Initiative in six schools in the Bronx, New York, where they provided mental health services. ⁸

TFC is supported by contributions and gifts from individuals and organizations supplemented by pay-for-service from schools and school districts. ⁹

Activities

TFC develops tools and services to accelerate healthy student development and academic achievement in schools with concentrations of children living in adversity. The organization has provided products for professional learning, school partnerships, and consulting for administrators to clients in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), Tulsa Public Schools (Oklahoma), and Newark Schools (New Jersey). ¹⁰

Design Principles

TFC participates in a project led by the Forum for Youth Investment, the Learning Policy Institute, in conjunction with the Science of Learning and Development Alliance that establishes a design purported to be based on science to produce equitable outcomes and an understanding of how to create conditions that enable them. ¹¹

SoLD

The Science of Learning and Development (SoLD) is an initiative of TFC, the Center for Individual Opportunity, EducationCounsel, the Learning Policy Institute, and the Opportunity Institute, which promotes the transformation of systems that educate children from birth to adulthood. The program is funded by the left-of-center Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Ford Foundation, and the left-of-center Raikes Foundation. ^{12 13}

Edutopia

TFC offers a suite of services for educators and school system leaders and collaborates with Edutopia, founded by George Lucas, in producing the How Learning Happens series of videos which show how to guide all children in becoming learners. ¹⁴

The180 Podcast

The organization produces The180 podcast aimed at providing guidance on how to remake the education system. TFC has also produced a Whole-Child Design Blueprint and a Turnaround for Children Toolbox. ¹⁵

Resources

TFC provides a resource hub for teachers, parents, and school leaders along with the COVID-19 Education Coalition and the Educating All Learners Alliance in the sharing of best practices to promote equal outcomes for all learners. ¹⁶

The Three Rs

TFC has produced a framework titled Three Rs: Relationships; Routines; and Resilience intended to “respond to the dual pandemics of racial injustice and the coronavirus pandemic.” The program is designed to give children and care givers strategies that they can use to protect themselves from stress created by the COVID-19 pandemic and racial turmoil. ¹⁷

Action Pack

They also produced an action pack for staff, schools and school systems to help them create crisis plans during COVID lockdowns and restrictions. ¹⁸

Leadership

TFC’s president and CEO is Brigid Ahern. She has been recognized by City & State New York magazine as one of the 100 most powerful education leaders in New York. ¹⁹

TFC’s founder is Pamela Cantor who formed TFC in 2002 after coauthoring a study after 9/11.  The study found that poverty was a greater impairment to learning than the trauma of 9/11. ²⁰

Finances

TFC had revenues of $10,934,550 in 2019, up from $5,551873 in the prior year and below the $18,941,143 reported in 2016. Contributions and grants were $9,098,258 while program service revenue totaled $1,834,307. ^{21 22}

The organization reported total expenses of $7,383,124, down from $9,795,390 in the prior year. ²³

TFC reported an increase in net assets from $4,182,098 in 2018 to $7,733,524 in 2019. ²⁴

1. “Turnaround for Children”, Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax, (Form 990), 2020, Part III, Line 1.
2.  “What We Do.” Turnaround for Children, March 11, 2022. https://turnaroundusa.org/what-we-do/.
3. “What We Do.” Turnaround for Children, May 14, 2018. https://staging.turnaroundusa.org/what-we-do/.
4. “Our History & Mission.” 911 FUND – Enhancing Public Safety Worldwide. Accessed May 18, 2022. http://www.911fund.org/mission.html.
5. “What We Do.” Turnaround for Children, May 14, 2018. https://staging.turnaroundusa.org/what-we-do/.
6. “Who We Are.” Turnaround for Children, March 11, 2022. https://turnaroundusa.org/who-we-are/.
7.  Turnaround for Children, April 20, 2022. https://turnaroundusa.org/.
8. “Our History.” Turnaround for Children, April 11, 2022. https://turnaroundusa.org/who-we-are/our-history/.
9. ^[1] “Turnaround for Children”, Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax, (Form 990), 2020, Part I, Lines 8, 9.
10. “Our History.” Turnaround for Children, April 11, 2022. https://turnaroundusa.org/who-we-are/our-history/.
11. “Design Principles.” Turnaround for Children, October 12, 2021. https://turnaroundusa.org/design-principles/.
12. “Science of Learning and Development.” Learning Policy Institute. Accessed April 22, 2022. https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/project/science-of-learning-and-development.
13. “Our History.” Turnaround for Children, April 11, 2022. https://turnaroundusa.org/who-we-are/our-history/.
14. “About Us.” Edutopia. Accessed April 22, 2022. https://www.edutopia.org/about.
15. “Our History.” 2019. Turnaround for Children, April 11, 2022. https://turnaroundusa.org/who-we-are/our-history/.
16. “Our History.” 2020. Turnaround for Children, April 11, 2022. https://turnaroundusa.org/who-we-are/our-history/.
17. “Our History.” 2020. Turnaround for Children, April 11, 2022. https://turnaroundusa.org/who-we-are/our-history/.
18. “Our History.” 2020. Turnaround for Children, April 11, 2022. https://turnaroundusa.org/who-we-are/our-history/.
19. “Brigid Ahern.” Turnaround for Children, October 21, 2021. https://turnaroundusa.org/team/brigid-ahern/.
20. “Pamela Cantor, M.D.” Turnaround for Children, June 21, 2021. https://turnaroundusa.org/team/pamela-cantor/.
21. “Turnaround for Children”, Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax, (Form 990), 2020, Part I, Lines 12, 8, 9.
22. “Turnaround for Children”, Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax, (Form 990), 2017, Part I, Line 12.
23. ^[1] “Turnaround for Children”, Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax, (Form 990), 2020, Part I, Line, 18.
24. “Turnaround for Children”, Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax, (Form 990), 2020, Part I, Line, 22.