Monthly Newsletter

Monthly Newsletter - June 2012


in this edition

Great Victory for Children

Pursuing Justice for Children Urgently

Spotlight on CDF Freedom Schools Sites

Saving Our Democracy: Creating One America

Last Chance for Hotel Discounts

Nuns on the Bus

Great Victory for Children

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court found the entire Affordable Care Act constitutional including the Medicaid expansion.

“Today’s decision is a clear victory for children of all ages, races and incomes in America,” said Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children’s Defense Fund. “I am delighted the Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act including the Medicaid expansion, but I am deeply concerned by the limitation of the expansion that could exclude millions of poor parents. Together we need to work until all children and parents and everyone in America are guaranteed access to comprehensive, affordable health coverage.”

Read a joint statement on the Court’s ruling from leading children’s health groups.

We’re thrilled you’ll be joining us in Cincinnati for this exciting mini-plenary session:

What’s Next for Health Reform? Ensuring Affordable Health Coverage for Every Child

Children and young adults have seen great health coverage gains since passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. Learn about the early coverage gains for millions of children, young adults and families and explore the road ahead as states work to develop health insurance exchanges and design a simple and seamless system for families to enroll in coverage. Take action to protect and improve Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and learn about promising strategies to enroll uninsured children in health coverage including the Connecting Kids to Coverage Challenge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education and CDF’s partnership with the American Association of School Administrators to enroll uninsured children in health coverage through local schools.

  • Elisabeth Wright Burak, Senior Program Director, Center for Children and Families, Georgetown University Health Policy Institute
  • Donna Cohen Ross, Senior Policy Advisor, Centers for Medicaid and CHIP Services
  • Sharon Adams-Taylor, Associate Executive Director, American Association of School Administrators, AASA
  • Amy Swanson, CEO, Voices for Ohio’s Children

Pursuing Justice for Children Urgently

Bryan Stevenson speaking
VIDEO: Bryan Stevenson at CDF Haley Farm

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court banned mandatory sentences of life in prison without parole for juveniles, a giant victory for our children and our country. Before the decision the U.S. was the only country in the world to routinely sentence 13 and 14-year-old children to die in prison. Two thousand people now have hope of a new hearing and a new sentence. Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, successfully argued the case. Watch Bryan Stevenson talk about the urgent need for justice for children in America with the CDF Freedom SchoolsŪ family earlier this month at Haley Farm. At our national conference you’ll hear him talk about action we can take together at a special plenary session, Ending the New Apartheid: The Cradle to Prison Pipeline and Mass Incarceration.


Spotlight on CDF Freedom Schools Sites

Right now, our CDF Freedom Schools partners across the country are serving more than 11,500 children. CDF President Marian Wright Edelman recently visited our four new sites in Cincinnati, Ohio and an excited young person told a reporter, “She's one of my heroes. She created Freedom Schools. If not for her, I would not be reading at the level I am today.” Our partner in Charlotte, North Carolina continues to expand under the leadership of Mary Nell McPherson, and has 25 sites this summer serving 1,600 children. Help close the achievement gaps by staunching summer learning loss. See CDF Freedom Schools sites in action in Cincinnati. Ask your friends to join us at the conference to learn from Mary Nell McPherson how to build public support to bring the CDF Freedom Schools program to your community.


Saving Our Democracy: Creating One America

An all-out assault on democracy is underway as corporations and big money can now spend unlimited cash on campaigns, suppressive voter ID laws seek to disenfranchise vulnerable voters, and efforts to defund, de-unionize, demonize and privatize public services of all kinds put social programs from public schools to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, on the chopping block. Join Wade Henderson, President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, as he moderates a robust discussion of these issues and more in a plenary session on Saving Democracy: Creating One America on July 24th at our national conference. Wade will be joined by the following experts:

  • Robert Edgar, President and CEO of Common Cause
  • Barbara Arnwine, Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
  • Arturo Vargas, Executive Director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials

Last Chance for Hotel Discounts

If you have not already booked your lodging, this is your last week to get a hotel discount. Hotel discounts are on a first come first served basis and end July 6th. We’re less than a month away from our first national conference in nearly a decade and we’re excited and encouraged by the outpouring of support and enthusiasm. Take time to look over the world-class speakers, plenary sessions and workshops and reserve your discounted hotel room. Look for more announcements of plenary speakers in the days ahead.


Nuns on the Bus

Nuns on the BusWe are so proud of our building neighbors and long-time partners in pursuing justice, NETWORK: A National Catholic Lobby, for taking their message against budget cuts to vulnerable populations on the road with their highly successful Nuns on the Bus tour across the heartland. Maybe you caught them on The Daily Show or The Colbert Report. Show your support with a ‘Like’ on their Facebook page and send them a note of encouragement for standing up against the disastrous House-passed ‘Ryan budget’ and for speaking out on behalf of ‘the least among us’.

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