Law Enforcement Child Month, a new initiative founded by the Gratitude Initiative (GI), in partnership with the Fraternal Order of Police, with support from Lexipol/Police1 and other organizations, is set to launch in July 2026 to show support for the children of law enforcement officers.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to follow and signup for notifications!
Lee Sechrist, Gratitude Initiative co-founder and U.S. Army veteran, isn’t deterred by the phrase “nobody takes care of cops, but cops” as he expands the organization’s scope from military children and the children of fallen and injured law enforcement officers to include all children of law enforcement officers.
Why launch Law Enforcement Child Month now?
Law Enforcement Child Month is inspired by the Month of the Military Child, founded in 1986, and Military Family Appreciation Month. Those months draw important attention, resources and fundraising to the unique challenges of military children and families.
The sacrifices law enforcement officers make to serve their communities, working nights and weekends, missing holidays and family events, and being absent from school activities and games, mirror some of the sacrifices military families make and can have a significant impact on their children. The kids share the sacrifice of service.
In addition to missing important time and milestones with their law enforcement parent, some children, according to Sechrist, might feel pressured to hide their parent’s law enforcement career. Children who are criticized by peers or adults because of a parent’s law enforcement career, or who feel pressure to hide that part of their family identity, may experience added stress.
Awareness first: Recognizing law enforcement children
Sechrist and Stephanie Ross, communications coordinator for the Gratitude Initiative, are launching Law Enforcement Child Month with two goals, to raise awareness and to raise funds.
“On the family side we see a lot of patterns that have built in the law enforcement community that are extremely similar to what military communities dealt with about 15 years ago,” Ross said. “We have got to do something to make these families feel like somebody’s got their back.”
Sechrist’s primary goal is to use “fun, positive, and proactive activities” to raise awareness of the unique challenges of law enforcement families and their children and to advocate for recognition, programs, and support for law enforcement families.
How agencies can use the free online toolkit
The Gratitude Initiative is releasing a free online toolkit for law enforcement agencies, organizations, and communities to help raise awareness with simple and coordinated actions, including:
- Ask city, village or town leaders to proclaim July Law Enforcement Child Month.
- Post Law Enforcement Child Month content on social media channels.
- Encourage support for local law enforcement children and families.
- Host simple events celebrating the children of their officers.
“Our number one focus, especially this first year, is to raise awareness,” Ross said. “Anything where we focus on the kids that are involved in that department and make them feel special.”
Ross also encouraged law enforcement agencies to use the toolkit as a year-round resource for continuing to raise awareness and support for law enforcement children. The free Law Enforcement Child Month toolkit is available at www.lechild.org.
Fundraising to support college and career planning
The Gratitude Initiative’s second goal for Law Enforcement Child Month is to raise funds to support the GI College Success Academy for law enforcement children by inviting law enforcement supporters to donate $9.11 either one time or monthly.
“We will use that money to help fund our program to provide (the College Success Academy) for law enforcement children,” Sechrist said.
The organization, a 501(c)(3), says 92 cents of every dollar goes to program delivery. Gratitude Initiative also holds a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.
How agencies can participate
It’s easy to join Gratitude Initiative, FOP and Police1 in launching Law Enforcement Child Month with the free toolkit. Pick one or more of the ideas for your department, share information and resources with colleagues, friends and family, and make a donation to support the delivery of the College Success Academy to law enforcement children.
“What we want is five years from now is a nationwide, signature annual event where communities, law enforcement agencies, local school districts, small businesses take the month of July to say thank you (law enforcement) for keeping us safe, say we appreciate what your dad and mom do for us, because it matters,” Sechrist said while also noting that Gratitude Initiative wants to be enrolling 3,000 to 4,000 kids a year from law enforcement families and raise $10 million a year for a scholarship endowment fund for law enforcement kids.
College planning as a family-support strategy
The Gratitude Initiative is passionate about how their service supports families in high-pressure careers to achieve their desires for their children.
“Parents want their children to end up in a satisfying and rewarding career that provides job stability, job opportunity, and financial prosperity over a lifetime,” Sechrist said.
Gratitude Initiative gives kids and parents options.
“We’re going to help them decide between good, better, and best,” Sechrist said. “We help them identify the right career for them, which may require a two-year school, a technical school or a four-year school.”
How family support connects to recruiting, retention and officer wellness
Career planning is one of the most important and expensive decisions a child and their parents can make.
“For all families in America one of the greatest financial stressors is how to fund and take care of their child to meet their higher education goals,” Sechrist said. “Yet for most families in the country, they leave the process completely up to their children with no formal college and career counseling.”
This is where the Gratitude Initiative believes it can make an impact on recruitment and retention. Sechrist believes that by supporting and appreciating families, giving them access to best-in-class college and career counseling, and shepherding children through the difficult decisions of college application and selection, families can save money, have less stress, and increase the likelihood of graduation. According to Sechrist, 40% of college kids drop out every year, 60% of college kids take six or more years to graduate, and the difference between graduating in four years and six years could be as much as $90,000 in additional tuition, fees, and living expenses.
“We believe there’s no greater way to honor the service and sacrifice of those that keep our nation and neighborhoods safe than to help their kids succeed in college, career and life,” Sechrist said.
The College Success Academy Program is no-cost, “white glove” and unlimited expert-led career counseling, college prep, and college success coaching.
“We’re able to come alongside that law enforcement family and give them a program for free that folks in America are paying five to $12,000 a year for,” Sechrist said. “That is a significant boost to that family.”
How the Gratitude Initiative supports military and law enforcement children
Sechrist and David Russell co-founded the Gratitude Initiative in 2013 with the mission of “Ensuring our protector’s children succeed in college, career, and life.”
They do this through a College Success Academy Program, which is a free-of-charge, online college and career preparatory program that serves students in grades 8-12 through college graduation.
“There was no one focused on helping with true college and career attainment,” Sechrist said. “So we brought together the best and brightest minds in career counseling, college counseling, test prep, distance learning, and online tutoring to build something that’s never been done.”
The result was the College Success Academy Program, which includes career and college counseling, PSAT/SAT/ACT test prep, financial aid counseling, and academic improvement efforts that are delivered by email, phone, and chat to students and parents.
“We started helping the children of our most elite special missions’ units within special operations,” Sechrist said.
The scope of their support has grown to include the children of:
- A military member who was killed in the line of duty.
- A wounded, injured, or disabled veteran who was injured in the line of duty.
- An active-duty member of the United States Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard.
- A Reserve or National Guard member activated for active duty.
- A veteran who was honorably discharged from active duty on or after 9/11/2001.
The Gratitude Initiative also offers its College Success Academy Program to the children of:
- A law enforcement officer or correctional officer who was killed in the line of duty or died by suicide.
- A law enforcement officer or correctional officer who was seriously injured in the line of duty.
“We have right now about 3,000 students and their parents enrolled in the program, stationed around the globe and in every single state in the United States,” Sechrist said.
The next growth opportunity for the Gratitude Initiative is a newly launched partnership with the Fraternal Order of Police that will kick off during Law Enforcement Child Month, to offer the College Success Academy Program to children of full-time LEOs.
“The reason we start with students as early as the eighth grade is studies show that when an eighth grader begins receiving formal career and college counseling starting in junior high, their chances of attending and actually, graduating from a four-year institution literally double,” Sechrist said.
