Children's Defense Fund

Children's Defense Fund makes a deliberate effort to discuss the issues impacting youth during public events where everyone can weigh in with their thoughts on how we can best build communities so that all young people can grow up with dignity, hope, and joy. Every year, the Children's Defense Fund-California team holds "Child Watch" to explore ways we can best improve the educational, emotional, and social well-being of young people in California. This year, Child Watch took place near downtown LA at Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA). Children's Defense Fund President and Chief Executive Officer Rev. Dr. Starsky D. Wilson, CDF-CA Youth Justice Director Milinda Kakani, and Los Angeles County Department of Youth Development Director David J. Carroll, MA opened the event by discussing ways the region can best improve youth justice in California. Watch the opening of their discussion below. Also, head to CDF-CA's Instagram page to watch all the panel discussions from the event: https://lnkd.in/ewNBqN7G

At Children's Defense Fund, we're excited for all the important events we have planned ahead, including the American Youth Policy Forum, powered by CDF, in Washington, D.C. on November 8. This convening will explore the impact of policy and the 2024 election on young people. Additionally, American Youth Policy Forum will gather key policymakers, advocates, and educators to discuss how national, state, and local policies can better serve young people, particularly those marginalized by systemic inequities. If you’ll be in the Washington, D.C. area and have a passion for advocating for policies that support and benefit youth across America, join us! Speakers will include Children's Defense Fund President and Chief Executive Officer Rev. Dr. Starsky D. Wilson, First Focus on Children President Bruce Lesley, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities President Sharon Parrott, and CDF Black Student Leadership Network senior Toni Maxwell. Register here: https://lnkd.in/ePj4H-KW 

Children's Defense Fund-New York Program Strategist Jose Perez recently won first place for a submission he provided to the Youth Voices Rising New York op-ed contest. Jose provided personal reflections on his experiences in the foster care system and how it often becomes a pipeline to even more mistreatment for the young people and families who are entwined in its operations. "What pains me is that, despite everyone knowing how dangerous foster care can be, society still considers it an acceptable option," Jose said. "The foster care system, which is supposed to be a safe haven for children in need, too often becomes a gateway to prison." Read Jose's powerful submission in The Imprint News here: https://bit.ly/3ZWzZY7

This week, Children's Defense Fund-MN Community Engagement Director May Esperanza L. completed the #OrangeShirtDay 5K Run at Bde Maka Ska in the Land of 10,000 Lakes! Brook LaFloe, a dedicated member of CDF-MN's Voices and Choices for Children Steering Committee, also played a key role in organizing the event. The CDF-MN team is proud to have committed team members who actively participate in community events. But this day carried extra significance or the CDF-MN team. On that day, the Minnesota Supreme Court heard a case that could influence the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act (MIFPA)—policies critical to protecting Native children and families. The outcome could have a lasting impact on young Native families across Minnesota, and CDF-MN stands firmly in support of their rights and well-being Read more about the case in this Minnesota Public Radio article: https://bit.ly/3NcIGWx

Children's Defense Fund continues to fight for the implementation of an expanded Child Tax Credit on the federal level and similar policies in states because of stories like the ones below. Newsday Media Group reporter Olivia Winslow recently talked to moms living in communities across Long Island who currently make slightly more income than the federal poverty threshold. The parents explained that caring for their families gets harder by the day. "Lower our taxes and give us more help with our kids," one mother explained. In the same article, CDF-New York Associate Policy Director Jamila A. English, MPP discussed how the implementation of a Working Family Tax Credit in New York could make the lives of the families easier. "They would have more money in their pockets," English said. "With the cost of food and the cost of rent and extra expenses... just a slight decrease in the amount of money going out of families’ pockets can make children’s lives a bit better and decrease poverty." Read all of what English had to say in Winslow's reporting here: https://nwsdy.li/4esh0Jl

Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre continues to receive national attention for his role in an infamous welfare fraud case. Last week, he testified on Capitol Hill at a U.S. House Committee on Ways & Means Committee hearing. But did you know that Children's Defense Fund-Southern Regional Office Director Oleta Fitzgerald and a coalition of advocates were in the room as well to tell the committee what happens to young families in need when federal funding supports are mishandled? Fitzgerald sat right behind Jarvis Dortch, Esq., executive director of the ACLU of Mississippi and a former policy consultant with CDF-SRO, as he testified about how the state’s actions in distributing Temporary Assistance for Need Families (TANF) funds are hurting the people who need this assistance most. “The cash assistance denial rate remains above 90 percent reaching just 0.06 percent of impoverished Mississippi adults,” Dortch said. “Mississippi continues hoarding TANF money with $145 million in unallocated funds.” Watch the hearing and the coalition’s entire testimony here: https://lnkd.in/e6-7rngN

This week Children's Defense Fund President and Chief Executive Officer Rev. Dr. Starsky D. Wilson is traveling with the Nun on the Bus & Friends "Vote Our Future" bus tour throughout the northeast. Organized by NETWORK ADVOCATES FOR CATHOLIC SOCIAL JUSTICE, the non-partisan effort calls on Americans to be multi-issue voters who prioritize justice, freedom, and an inclusive future. Dr. Wilson joined the “Vote Our Future” tour because he and Children’s Defense Fund share NETWORK Advocates’ vision of an inclusive, multiracial, multi-faith democracy that equips everyone to vote in the 2024 election and beyond. “I ride the bus to encourage people of faith to lean into the hope of child well-being and answer the call to vote for a future of public policy that allows children to be safe, seen, and secure as they play, sing, and dance in our neighborhoods, schools, and at home,” Dr. Wilson said. Dr. Wilson's already made stops in Philadelphia, Allentown, and Scranton, Pennsylvania. He and his fellow riders on the bus will also stop in locations in Long Island and Upstate New York and Pittsburgh. On Tuesday, Dr. Wilson got to participate in a roundtable discussion on democracy in Allentown with community members, Allentown Mayor Matthew Tuerk, and our #CDFFreedomSchools partner Resurrected Life Community Development Corporation. Rev. Dr. Gregory Edwards, founder and senior pastor of Resurrected Community Church even briefly discussed the impact the James Lawson Freedom School is having in Northeast Pennsylvania. Take a look!

Children's Defense Fund-Texas Senior Administrator of Policy and Advocacy Trudy Taylor Smith, J.D. recently wrote a blog highlighting findings from the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) regarding the scale of state violence inflicted on migrant children and families under Texas' "Operation Lone Star." "Operation Lone Star has made the border more dangerous, especially for children," Taylor Smith says. Read more of what she had to say regarding WOLA's analysis here: https://lnkd.in/eXYG5T3u

Rev. Dr. Starsky D. Wilson represented Children's Defense Fund at The White House yesterday as President Joseph Biden announced an executive order to address the number one killer of children in America: gun violence. The Biden administration directed federal agencies to improve school-based active shooter drills. Present at the event was a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, and Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, Randall Woodfin, who lost his own brother to gun violence. "When we're talking about crime in America, we have to talk about guns in America," President Biden said. CDF is committed to creating just and caring communities for young people across America by stopping senseless gun violence. That's why we support this executive order and the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, created last year. According to the Biden administration, in 2023, America observed its lowest rate of violent crime in the last 50 years. Watch the full announcement here: https://bit.ly/4eiYxik

CDF Action advances child well-being through grassroots lobbying, advocating in Congress and in statehouses for child-centered policies, and holding elected officials publicly accountable for supporting those policies. We are only 40 days away from #ElectionDay, so CDF Action asked the public today to join its Campaign for Joy and pledge to #VoteChildWellBeing in this and all elections! If you would like to take the CDF Action pledge, click this link to learn more: cdf-action.org