Grassroots
Effort to
Global Nonprofit

For more than 40 years, Committee for Children has been helping children learn, grow, and thrive. Because we believe that if you make a positive impact on enough children through social-emotional learning, then the ripples will help a family, a school, a community, and ultimately, the world.

1979

Committee for Children is formed to help victims of child sexual abuse.

To learn more about Committee for Children, visit our About Us page.

1981

Our Talking About Touching program is released.

Find additional resources at our Previous Program Resources page.

1983

Our mission gains national attention with an appearance on the Today Show.

To learn more about our appearance on the Today Show, view the clip on YouTube.

1985

The organization begins exploring primary abuse prevention and develops the first edition of the Second Step® program.

To learn more about Second Step programs, visit our Social-Emotional Learning page.

1996

We launch research into bullying prevention in response to school violence.

To learn more about our research into bullying prevention, visit our Bullying Prevention Resources page.

1998

The White House names our Second Step program a Model Program in the Annual Report on School Safety.

To learn more about the White House’s 1998 Annual Report on School Safety, view this PDF.

2001

The US Department of Education names our curriculum a Safe & Drug Free Schools Exemplary Program.

To learn more about our policy and advocacy work, visit our Policy and Advocacy page.

2001

We respond to a need for bullying prevention in schools with the launch of the Steps to Respect program.

Find additional resources at our Previous Program Resources page.

2002

CASEL awards high marks to our Second Step program.

To learn more about the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, visit casel.org.

2011

Our flagship SEL program is revised to set the groundwork for a group of programs that can be taught together: the Second Step family of programs.

To learn more about the Second Step family of programs, visit our Programs page.

2013

With the foundation for bullying prevention—social-emotional learning—in place, we create an add-on unit: the Second Step® Bullying Prevention Unit.

To learn more about the Bullying Prevention Unit, visit our Bullying Prevention program page.

2014

The Second Step® Child Protection Unit is added to the Second Step family of programs.

To learn more about the Child Protection Unit, visit our Child Protection program page.

2017

The new Second Step® Middle School program launches—bringing technology and the latest research together to engage students.

To learn more about Second Step Middle School, visit SecondStep.org.

2019

We launch the Grow Kinder® podcast, a first-of-its-kind SEL podcast where we talk with thought leaders about what it means to grow kinder and help others do the same.

To learn more about the Grow Kinder podcast, visit our Grow Kinder Podcast page.

2020

We announce our goal to positively and equitably transform the social-emotional well-being of 100 million children annually by 2030.

To learn more about our policy and advocacy work, visit our Policy and Advocacy page.

2021

We launch Second Step® Elementary digital program.

To learn more about Second Step® Elementary digital, visit SecondStep.org

2021

We launch Second Step® SEL for Adults.

To learn more about Second Step® SEL for Adults, visit SecondStep.org

2024

We launch Second Step® High School, an all-new social-emotional learning program for high schools, expanding the Second Step family of programs into a full-suite, K–12 SEL solution.

To learn more about Second Step® High School, visit SecondStep.org