Although VPP’s influence on the lives of children is indirect—that is, through the hard, hands-on work of our nonprofit investment partners—our vision is grounded in the words of the esteemed social scientist William Julius Wilson: “Our overriding goal ought to be to save the children. Other goals—reducing the cost of welfare, discouraging illegitimacy, and preventing long-term welfare dependency—are all worthy. But they should be secondary to the goal of improving the life prospects of the next generation.”

America leads the industrialized nations in the percentage of children raised in poverty. Longstanding social, economic, educational, and health disparities in this country continue to deprive these children of the resources—and the hope—they need. Our society must act to ensure that these children are given the opportunity to grow up to lead meaningful and productive lives, moving from being net consumers of a community’s resources and wealth to being net producers of them.

There is a fairly wide range of opinion on the essential ingredients for successful childhood development, but there is general consensus around six core needs. The following chart describes these needs and outlines what is required from our society in order to address them. The items in gold represent areas that are squarely within the domain of VPP’s first investment fund, which is focused on the educational, learning, and developmental needs of children. The remaining areas are equally important but are generally considered outside of VPP’s domain.

CORE NEEDS	WHAT’S REQUIRED TO ADDRESS THEM
An engaged, caring, literate parent (or other family member or guardian)	High-quality family services, literacy, drug treatment, mental health, other programs for parents and other adults
The consistent presence of a caring, responsive adult who has enough time to develop a nurturing, supportive relationship	High-quality developmental child care, high-quality mentoring Changed economic and employment conditions Child-support enforcement
A nonviolent (safe and supportive) home and neighborhood	Decent housing, community development, job training, public safety, philanthropic capital
Easy access to a high-quality, persevering, appropriate response to problems	High-functioning health and mental health services High-functioning child welfare and social service systems
Well-functioning schools and pre-schools with high expectations and the capacity to teach all children at high levels	High-quality preschool and K-12 education
Safe places for children during non school hours, offering diverse opportunities to experience success and to acquire skills and pro-social values and behavior	High-quality after-school programs, extracurricular activities, and community- and work-based opportunities for non-academic learning