The Clinton Foundation unveiled a new initiative Monday to help state and local governments develop and enact nonpartisan policy solutions to improve health outcomes, especially for women and children, economic security and democracy.
The foundation鈥檚 first new initiative in more than a decade, the Clinton Policy Institute has already begun convening political leaders from both parties, research experts, and Americans affected by the issues being studied to create new approaches to long-existing problems.
鈥淩ising costs, economic uncertainty, rapid technological change, and growing pressures on our public institutions are making it harder for families to get ahead,鈥� former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a statement to The Associated Press. 鈥淲e created CPI because we believe there are still practical, evidence-based solutions that can improve people鈥檚 lives.鈥�
CPI is building on its work with New York state in banning cellphones from schools in the past academic year. Though the institute did not technically exist last year when it teamed with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul鈥檚 administration on creating distraction-free schools in the state, the Clinton Foundation saw promise in its approach and decided to expand it before publicly announcing CPI鈥檚 creation. It鈥檚 a strategy that the foundation, also led by former President Bill Clinton and public health expert Chelsea Clinton, used when it launched the Clinton Health Access Initiative in 2004.
Zayn Siddique, former principal deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council, will serve as CPI鈥檚 chief executive officer. Jennifer Klein, who was director of the White House Gender Policy Council under former President Joe Biden, will be CPI鈥檚 chair.
In New York, CPI helped create the Teen Tech Council so that students could help make the phone-ban program more effective. The result, according to Hochul鈥檚 office, was that educators found a marked improvement in classroom behavior and engagement.
鈥淐PI is bringing together policymakers, researchers, business leaders, and community organizations to identify what works, build stronger policy networks, and help turn those ideas into policy,鈥� Hillary Clinton said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e taking a particular focus on states and local communities, where so much innovation is happening.鈥�
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly praises CPI’s nonpartisan approach
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said a CPI conference on improving the lives of children earlier this month was 鈥渢he best roundtable I鈥檝e been involved with since becoming governor.鈥�
Kelly, who will leave office in January due to term limits after serving two consecutive terms, said she was inspired by CPI鈥檚 nonpartisan approach to solving problems affecting children.
鈥淚 am a Democrat governor in what is considered a very red state,鈥� Kelly told The Associated Press in an interview. 鈥淚t became very clear to me that if I wanted to accomplish anything in my political life, I was going to need to do it in a bipartisan way.鈥�
Kelly believes that, despite political polarization, CPI can succeed in finding nonpartisan solutions 鈥� especially to issues involving children and healthcare 鈥� and giving state leaders the research and other support to implement them.
鈥淓very once in a while, you get people from both sides of the aisle who come together and crafted, maybe not sexy legislation, but something that really needed to be done,鈥� Kelly said. 鈥淎nd they get it through.鈥�
Dr. Jerome Adams, former U.S. Surgeon General in President Donald Trump鈥檚 first administration, agrees that nonpartisan solutions are possible to find. But he says the nonpartisan nature of the solutions has to be intentional.
鈥淗ealth is inherently political,鈥� said Adams. 鈥淲hen you talk about access to healthcare coverage, when you talk women鈥檚 health issues, particularly around the issue of abortion and contraception, when you talk about drug policy and whether you鈥檙e in favor of harm reduction, when you talk of firearm safety — all of these are inherently political issues.鈥�
Former Surgeon General Adams sees broad support for children’s issues
That is complicated further, Adams said, because 鈥渨e live in a country that is very binary, so every issue, no matter how nuanced, is, for purposes of elections, turned into black/white, yes/no, all or none.鈥�
However, Adams said CPI has already found a way to get bipartisan buy-in for some of its solutions to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). In 2020, the state of California launched the ACEs Aware initiative to begin screening for ACEs 鈥� which include abuse, neglect and household challenges 鈥� and treating them early to reduce the impact and the cost to the state later.
Through CPI, Adams was asked to become the co-chair of the National Leadership Council for the ACE Resource Network in June in an effort to bring California鈥檚 work treating ACEs to other states.
鈥淚鈥檓 very interested in work that has proven and practical solutions,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e bring in states and say, 鈥楬ey, let鈥檚 look at the best evidence in terms of what works around adverse childhood experiences and state level policy and then try to implement it in your state鈥�.鈥�
That strategy has led Republican-led states like Utah and Georgia to consider parts of Democrat-led California鈥檚 work on the issue, Adams said.
He said it鈥檚 a sign that CPI鈥檚 approach works and can be expanded to other areas.
The Clinton Foundation hopes that will be the case.
鈥淭oo many people have lost faith that progress is possible,鈥� Hillary Clinton said. 鈥淏ut across the country, leaders are developing innovative policies that are strengthening families and communities. Those ideas deserve to be shared and scaled.鈥�
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