About

CFCA believes that the environment in which children grow up should promote their positive health and well-being and contribute to their optimal development as full human beings. It is time for a systematic approach to considering children’s needs when we plan new neighborhoods and restore existing cities and suburbs.

The CFCA Alliance was founded by the International Making Cities Livable Council (IMCL) and the National Town Builders Association (NTBA). The purpose is to guide the development and implementation of Guidelines, Standards, and a voluntary “Child-Friendly Community” Certification Program. CFCA will work with national leaders, allied organizations and expert advisors to create this program. The Guidelines and Standards will be made available to developers and municipalities. Qualifying projects will be officially certified and celebrated as “Child-Friendly”.

CFCA Certification Program

The intention of the CFCA Certification Program is to demonstrate that children who grow up in Certified communities are more likely to be in better physical and mental health than children who have grown up elsewhere. The eventual aim of this project is to improve the lives of all children growing up in communities across the U.S.

Land use planning, urban design, landscape architecture, transportation planning and architecture can contribute to children’s physical fitness, foster independence and self-confidence, stimulate curiosity and enhance pleasure and well-being, reinforce responsible behavior towards others and towards our natural environment, improve social skills, and develop a sense of belonging and community membership.

Partnerships

The International Making Cities Livable Council (IMCL) and the National Town Builders Association (NTBA) are partnering to guide the development of a “Child-Friendly Community” Certification Program that gathers together under one umbrella all of the guidelines necessary to design and restore neighborhoods that encourage children’s physical and emotional health and well-being – neighborhoods that provide children with free range and daily contact with nature and community life.

The guidelines will incorporate the collective wisdom – from many disciplines and many countries – to set standards for Child-Friendly Communities, and will be made available to developers and municipalities. Qualifying projects will be officially certified and celebrated as “Child-Friendly”.

The CFCA will work with national leaders, allied organizations and expert advisors to create the guidelines and standards. With this leadership, we can build a new wave of Child-Friendly Communities, empowering kids to reclaim their great outdoors , and their place in community life.

The intention of the CFCA Certification Program is to demonstrate that children who grow up in Certified communities are more likely to be in better physical and mental health than children who have grown up elsewhere. The eventual aim of this project is to improve the lives of all children growing up in communities across the U.S.

Contact with nature, opportunities to walk and bike, and participation in community social life improve the health and well-being of all, but especially children. A healthy community for children is a healthy community for all.

Neighborhoods must be safe, and perceived by parents to be safe so that they will grant children the freedom to explore and range freely. Improved social networks and sense of community are as important as increased safety from traffic in encouraging parents to trust their children to explore on their own.

By creating communities responsive to the needs of children and young people, this approach to community planning will also result in neighborhoods, towns and cities that are ecologically and socially sustainable. Sustainable communities are those that foster healthy children who engage in community, respect nature, and participate in civic life. When adults, these children will impart those same values to their children.