2025 Founders' Letter

Dear Friends and Partners,

In 2023, I made a deliberate choice to work inside a state’s child welfare system. My goal was to understand, from the front lines, how we address our most profound human needs. I came to this work from a background in youth mental health, where I saw a clear line connecting the unmet needs of children to our society’s most pressing issues, from poor health outcomes to incarceration. I wanted to understand how these adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, take root.

My initial focus was on the role of empathic listening. I wanted to see how it could serve as a mechanism for relief for people in distress. While I confirmed its importance, I soon discovered that the most critical act of listening was not with individuals, but with the system itself.

By listening to the patterns around me, I began to hear a significant gap in our national approach to child safety. I saw a disconnect between what the public believes constitutes abuse and how the state legally defines it. I witnessed reporters, from teachers to neighbors, struggle to voice their concerns. They often left out critical information, not from a lack of care, but because they did not know what to ask or what details were essential.

The consequences of this gap were clear. Valid concerns were often screened out simply because a report lacked sufficient information to warrant an investigation. In other cases, a child’s words were misunderstood, triggering an unnecessary investigation when a simple clarifying question could have resolved the issue. It became clear that we could achieve better outcomes.

Recognizing this systemic problem, I decided to act. The Child Safety Fund is the result. After working directly in child welfare, I am now using that frontline knowledge to create a public resource that will democratize child safety education. Our purpose is straightforward: children deserve to be safe, and we can improve the systems designed to protect them.

Our work is rooted in the belief that safety is not only a professional duty but a shared community mission. By training the public in how to recognize and report child abuse with clarity, compassion, and good faith, we can strengthen the nation’s capacity to protect children.

With gratitude and humility,

Jonah Johnson President, Child Safety Fund