Children's Defense Fund

Tell Congress to Pass the Budget Resolution This week, the entire Congress is voting on the budget resolutions, which means that all of your Members of Congress and not just the one or two who serve on the Budget Committee, need to hear from you this week! This budget helps rebuild our economy and focuses on families. It commits to providing health care for all, lifting families out of poverty and helping children start school ready to learn and succeed. These are the goals that you have been fighting for—we must build on the momentum from last week’s victory. Send an email to your Senators and Representative today and ensure that this budget resolution benefits children, families, and our nation’s future. Remember, the opposition, including the insurance companies, corporations, multi-millionaires and others, don't want their tax loopholes closed to pay for these national priorities, and they are spending a lot of money lobbying against it. That's why we need you to help us organize in support of the budget! America's children, our future and our country's prosperity are depending on you and your Member of Congress. CDF President Marian Wright Edelman Attends White House Health Care Summit Earlier this month, CDF President Marian Wright Edelman had the honor of serving as a panelist at President Obama's Health Care Summit at the White House.  As one of the few representatives from a child advocacy organization, she had the privilege of speaking for our nation's children and discussing with other panelists the importance of ensuring health coverage for every child this year. Visit our website to view video clips, share your thoughts on this event and read what others have said. New Report: Low-Income Families Losing Billions in Tax Benefits As the 2008 tax filing deadline is fast approaching, and millions of families are struggling in the economic recession, CDF has released a report that finds low-income families lose billions of dollars each year to predatory commercial tax preparers and highlights the importance of tax credits for working families. This report found that in tax year 2006, low-income families lost $3.1 billion of their Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) benefits to high-interest, short-term loans, tax preparation fees and other financial products issued by commercial tax preparers. Visit our website to download the report and find out how much your city, county or state has lost to predatory commercial tax preparers. Now For Sale in Web Store: Marian Wright Edelman's Latest Book  Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman's new book, The Sea Is So Wide and My Boat Is So Small: Charting a Course for the Next Generation, is a call to action for all Americans to address the urgent needs of our country's youths. The book is a series of letters to a variety of audiences—educators, faith leaders, youth, mothers, elected officials and concerned citizens nationwide—that reflects on the social and economic progress as well as the setbacks since Dr. King's death 40 years ago. Mrs. Edelman challenges each audience to step up and take action at this pivotal moment to ensure a level playing field for the next generation. Purchase your copy today in our online store.   National/California Cradle to Prison Pipeline® Summit a Huge Success! Last month CDF and several co-conveners hosted a two-day National/California Cradle to Prison Pipeline Summit in Sacramento, California. Nearly 500 attendees shared promising approaches and developed community action plans to stop the funneling of thousands of children down a pipeline to prison. The highlight of the event was the 150 youths who led and participated in the deliberations of the first day to help define their own involvement in efforts to dismantle the pipeline. During interactive sessions, they shared challenges and discussed their personal experiences in the pipeline and the interventions that changed their lives. Their report and recommendations were presented to the entire summit. View a photo slideshow from the summit and stay tuned for video clips of interviews and sessions on our web site. We must mount a concerted national effort to dismantle the pipeline to prison by eliminating its root causes through implementation of promising approaches articulated at the summit. Find out ways you and your community can step up and take action (.pdf) and learn more about children in the pipeline in your state. The policies and systems that fuel the pipeline to prison are strong, but together so are we! Learn more about CDF's Cradle to Prison Pipeline Campaign. Now Online: The New Economic Recovery Law: Resources to Help Children and the Economy The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act helps alleviate the stress on families and communities by investing in improvements for a range of needed services and supports and offering states funds to offset deep cuts. The improvements made in the Recovery Act will not benefit anyone, however, unless they are implemented in a way that effectively helps children, families, and communities. The Children's Defense Fund has gathered useful materials from federal agencies, congressional sources, and advocacy and other organizations that can help you become familiar with the Recovery Act funding and program activities available in states and communities. The New Economic Recovery Law: Resources for Helping Children and the Economy provides links to these materials. This guide will be updated frequently to provide the latest and most helpful resources.