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Pursuing Justice for Children and the Poor with Urgency and Persistence Join us in Cincinnati, Ohio for our first national conference since 2003! This is not a talk conference, this is an action conference. Read the invitation from Marian Wright Edelman. Through cutting edge plenary sessions and dozens of compelling workshops, we will focus on the latest research, best practices, community building models, and community and youth empowerment strategies to close the gap between what we know works and what we actually do for our most vulnerable—children and the poor. Learn more about the conference and register now. 
Among the 3,000 child advocates we are planning to host for our national conference will be up to 1,000 young adult leaders. These leaders of today and tomorrow, ages 18-30, will represent the Youth Leadership Action Network that we have been quietly developing over the years through our CDF Freedom Schools® program, Beat the Odds® scholarships, and Young Advocate Leadership Training (YALT®) program. Our goal is to continue to cultivate these young people as leaders in dismantling the Cradle to Prison Pipeline and rescuing our democracy from the clutches of racism, greed, and the hyper-polarized rhetoric that has brought the political process to a halt. Watch recently added videos from YALT training at CDF Haley Farm, featuring intergenerational dialogue with Ambassador Andrew Young and recent Stanford University graduate Michael Tubbs and learn more about the YALT program. Monday morning it happened again. A teen brought a gun to school and opened fire. Now three children are dead, two more are injured, and a community is in shock. How many school shootings and other gun tragedies have to happen before we all stand up and speak up and say this gun violence has got to stop? At the Children’s Defense Fund we know protecting children, not guns is the only solution to this pernicious problem. Please look for our new gun violence report in the coming weeks and find out what you can do in your community to make your homes, streets, schools and communities safer for children. Our thoughts and prayers are with the children and families of Chardon, Ohio as they mourn the loss of their innocents. Keeping a Close Watch on the Budget
We must continue our call for Congress and state governments to choose babies over billionaires and children over corporations. Continue the drumbeat by contacting your Members of Congress and demand the rich and powerful interests pay their fair share rather than continue to receive huge and unfair government subsidies and tax cuts they neither deserve, earned, nor need. Affordable Care Act Works for Children On March 21st, please join us when we celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the Affordable Care Act—landmark health reform legislation that has already made a huge difference in the lives of many children and families across America. Let’s talk about the ways:
Eventually the Affordable Care Act will provide access to health coverage for 32 million uninsured adults and more than 95 percent of all children in America. Meanwhile, it has helped keep children’s health coverage strong through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) during tough economic times and actually helped reduce the rate of uninsured children from 9.3 percent in 2008 to less than 8.3 percent today. Look for details on our anniversary celebration and what you can do in your community. And rest assured, CDF will never give up until all children have access to health coverage. |
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Overall, in these tight economic times, the President’s FY 2013 budget proposes critical investments to support healthy child development and fight poverty while taking steps towards addressing inequities in the U.S. tax code. Priorities for increased funding in the President’s budget include education, early childhood development, health and vulnerable youth. Despite this overall good news for children, there is cause for concern. A number of important programs that serve vulnerable children and families face deep budget cuts at a time when the economy has greatly increased the need for safety net services. We must remain vigilant in the weeks, months and years ahead and speak and stand up for the voiceless, voteless children so they do not bear the brunt of budget assaults. 
