Advocacy in Action: How Heinz College Alumna Emily Reece Helped Save a Lifeline for Foster Families

Since 2021, thousands of foster children and their caregivers in California have relied on the free Family Urgent Response System for support. The 24/7 hotline, known as FURS, aims to prevent police involvement and de-escalate conflicts that could strain the caregiving relationship.

Earlier this year, families almost lost this resource. Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a $292 billion state budget in January 2024 that cut the $30 million in annual funding previously allotted for FURS. 

Emily Reece (MSPPM-DA ‘21) helped push the state to preserve FURS through her work at Children Now, a nonprofit that advocates for policies to improve children’s lives. Reece is the Director of the Children’s Movement of California, a network of more than 5,000 service providers, civil rights organizations, parents and community groups coordinated by Children Now staff. 

“The Children’s Movement cares about kids, and they want to see them prioritized in policymaking,” Reece said.

“Not all advocacy campaigns end in a win,” she continued. “The FURS win was a great example of having a clear line of sight into the impact your work is making.” 

Fighting the FURS Funding Cuts

FURS helps foster children and their caregivers connect with in-person help and resources, with the hotline’s goal being to maintain foster care placements, prevent calls to the police and avoid hospitalizations of foster youth. A FURS mobile-response team is available around-the-clock, which is particularly helpful at night because social workers may be unavailable. 

When they realized FURS was slated to be cut from the state budget, the Children’s Movement and Children Now began brainstorming ideas for a campaign that would protect the program. Reece and her team executed a communications and outreach campaign to ensure the thousands of Children’s Movement members would learn about and support the issue. 

Between February and May 2024, Reece and her team gathered testimonials from caregivers and foster children who have benefited from the hotline. FURS service providers also shared how their work helped callers. 

Their efforts resulted in more than 1,000 organizations signing a letter to Newsom explaining the importance of FURS. The Children’s Movement sent him the letter in June 2024, and weeks later, the state’s final budget preserved the funds originally slated for FURS. 

The win affirmed the impact her work has on the lives of foster youth in California, a population that Reece said tends to be overlooked within policy-making. 

“Policies related to foster youth don’t usually make headlines. Foster youth don’t make up a big portion of the population, but the state has a moral obligation to take care of these kids,” Reece said. 

“Kids aren’t doing as well as they should be doing in California,” Reece said. “We have to do more to support them.”

How Her Heinz College Education Helped Reece Make a Difference

Reece’s time at Heinz College gave her skills she uses daily to advocate for policies supporting children. 

Reece said she learned how to conduct a formal audience analysis and tailor messages accordingly through the Writing for Public Policy and Strategic Presentations Skills courses, taught by Rebekah Fitzsimmons, assistant teaching professor at Heinz College. At Children Now, Reece often must explain complex policy issues to a broad range of individuals.

“Policy can become confusing, and it can create such a big barrier to entry for people who care and want to help but don’t know how to get involved, or don’t feel like they understand the issues enough to have an opinion,” Reece said. “Knowing your audience and meeting your audience where they are is so important."

Reece also took Design Thinking with Chris Goranson, a distinguished service professor at Heinz College. In the course, Reece participated in a group project in which the team had to identify and speak to people affected by a given public policy challenge or societal problem. This project helped Reece prepare for her role at Children Now, where her team often holds strategic retreats to brainstorm ideas and policy solutions.

The course also helped her better understand how to incorporate the needs of people who engage with Children Now. Goranson encouraged his students to utilize human-centered design methods, a strategy Reece plans to implement at Children Now.

What’s Next for Children Now

While getting the FURS funding reinstated was a significant achievement, Reece knows the state of California is likely to be in a budget deficit again next year. Reece and her team are taking steps to prevent the governor and his administration from proposing cuts that will harm children. They’ve launched a campaign asking the governor to prioritize children’s needs when he releases his first proposal in January.

Reece continues to value community voices in her advocacy work.

“Centering the stories and experiences of people who are actually impacted by the policies we’re working on is critical to make sure you’re passing good policy,” Reece said. “It’s also crucial when you’re trying to show people the importance of a policy.”