Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School and the entire Newtown, Connecticut community. Read CDF President Marian Wright Edelman's statement on the tragedy and her Child Watch column urging us to protect children not guns.

Congratulations to our 2012 Beat the Odds Scholarship Recipients

CDF-CA 2012 Beat the Odds Scholarship Honorees: Richard Kent, Roneisha Pugh, Yahydia Iñiguez, Jade Woods, and Jalen Woods, with Conan O'Brien and J.J. Abrams

On December 6th, Hollywood stars and long-time children’s supporters joined CDF Founder and President Marian Wright Edelman at the 22nd annual Beat the Odds Awards to celebrate CDF-CA's 2012 Beat the Odds scholarship recipients. These amazing young people have overcome tremendous adversity in their daily lives – homelessness, abuse, and family loss – to excel academically and become leaders in their communities.

Watch short documentaries that tell their extraordinary stories or read their biographies.

Beat the Odds honorees with Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas

The Beat the Odds Scholarship and Leadership Program provides outstanding high school students with a college scholarship and numerous support services, including ongoing mentoring, internship placements, leadership development, college counseling, SAT prep, and college tours. Learn more about Beat the Odds and how you can support the program. The 2013 Beat the Odds Scholarship Application is available on our website.

Tell Congress: "Be Careful What You Cut"

Congress is making critically important decisions about the federal budget impacting our state’s children and economy. CDF supports a federal budget that protects children and low-income families from budget cuts, invests in children to promote long-term economic growth, and ensures that the most advantaged Americans and corporations pay their fair share.

Please share CDF’s budget principles with family, friends and colleagues and hold your Representative and Senators accountable to protecting children. Contact your members of Congress today to ask them to stand up for children and tell them: "be careful what you cut."

Changes Coming to the Healthy Families Program

On January 1, 2013, California will begin moving children who currently have health coverage through the Healthy Families Program to Medi-Cal. While children will not lose health coverage in the move, children’s advocates urge state policymakers to proceed cautiously to ensure that children continue to have timely access to doctors and dentists when they need them.

Read a Los Angeles Times editorial urging policymakers to “keep a close eye on the process to make sure no children are pushed into a coverage abyss.” Download and share our fact sheet, “What Families Should Know About Changes to the Healthy Families Program.”  If your family or a child in your community has been affected by the move, please share your story.

Upcoming Events

Women’s Policy Summit - Join CDF-CA at the Women’s Policy Summit: Advancing Women’s Health, Wealth & Power on Thursday, January 17, 2013 at the Sacramento Convention Center. The Women’s Policy Summit is an opportunity to learn what state legislators and leading advocates identify as top priorities to improve the health and well-being of California’s diverse communities of women and girls.

Vision & Voice for Healthy Students - The California School Health Centers Association invites you to join hundreds of health care providers, school officials, and children's health stakeholders in Long Beach on March 14-15 for their statewide conference, Vision & Voice for Healthy Students.