CDF-CA Co-Sponsors Legislation to Support Children

Every year, CDF-CA supports statewide legislation that helps to ensure a level playing field for all children. This year we are co-sponsoring two important bills that will strengthen school safety and guarantee that children are not unfairly denied financial assistance.

Assembly Bill 549, by Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer, will make sure that schools are the safest places for our children by better defining the role of adults on campus and encouraging school districts to explore a more comprehensive approach to school safety. School districts across the state responded to the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, and the very real fears of parents, by deploying more police on campuses. While law enforcement is crucial part of overall community security, it is not always the most effective method to protect students, and, in certain circumstances, can actually be counterproductive.  Research suggests the surest way to prevent school violence is to foster an environment of trust and connectedness between students and adults. AB 549 moves us in the right direction by requiring school districts to clearly define the roles of adults on school campuses and mandating that districts that seek out additional campus safety funds institute alternative strategies to school safety.

Assembly Bill 814, by Assemblymember Bradford, will eliminate the double penalty for student truancy that has disproportionately penalized that state’s poorest families. Right now, parents on CalWORKs must make sure their children attend school regularly to continue to receive their full benefits package. Additionally, as of 2010, parents who fail to get their children to class can face penalties from school districts as well, including misdemeanor charges, imprisonment, and hefty fines. Taken together, both penalties are an unjust burden on the backs of poor families straining to climb the rungs of the economic ladder. AB 814 will eliminate the attendance penalty for CalWORKs, thereby relieving this financial burden and helping families to achieve self-sufficiency. Additionally, it will require counties to help students who have dropped out of high school to obtain academic certificates, degree completion, and career planning.

Visit our legislation webpage for a complete list of legislation we are supporting.

Urge Governor Brown to Expand Medi-Cal Health Coverage

Through the Affordable Care Act, California has an important opportunity to use federal funding to expand Medi-Cal coverage to over one million Californians, drastically reducing the number of uninsured in our state.  Our state legislators have been working hard to expand Medi-Cal as quickly and simply as possible, but we need Governor Brown’s support to help move the Medi-Cal expansion forward as soon as possible. Take action and call the Governor (916-445-2841) this week and tell him you are counting on him to expand Medi-Cal as soon as possible. Read the 100% Campaign action alert for more information and tips on what to say during your call.

Governor Releases Budget Proposal

On January 10, Governor Brown released his proposed 2013-14 budget. The balanced budget plan signals that the budget deficits of recent years are behind us. The Governor proposes significant increases in funding for K-12 schools and higher education, but keeps funding for most other areas of the budget the same as last year. Though the Governor’s budget does not include significant cuts to education, health care, and social services like we have seen in recent years, the budget proposal fails to restore severe cuts to children’s programs or start the process of repairing the state’s tattered safety net. Learn more about how the Governor’s budget proposal would impact children by visiting our Children’s State Budget Watch

Ask Policymakers to Fund School-Based Health Centers

Hundreds of thousands of kids in California still don’t have access to the medical, mental health, and dental services they need to be healthy and do their best in school. School-based health centers (SBHCs) are solving this problem by bringing health care services to where kids already are - at school. California is home to 200 SBHCs that provide primary and preventive health care to over 200,000 children in the state that may not get it otherwise. Now federal funding is needed to keep existing SBHCs open and create more of them to deliver the health care services too many children in our state still need. Please join our partner, Children Now, in sending a strong message to California’s Congressional Delegation supporting more federal funding for school-based health centers.

Community and School Safety Forum in Oakland on March 25th

The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut last December has raised the call for action to keep children safe. On March 25, 2013, join policymakers, youth service providers and advocates as they come together at a community forum in Oakland to highlight the innovative work being accomplished in the East Bay Area to make classrooms and streets safer for children. This forum will feature the pioneering work from Richmond to Hayward that focuses on the root causes of violence, intervenes to stop cycles of violence and enhances the safety of all children and families.

The forum will be held at Oakland City Hall in Oakland, California on Monday, March 25th, from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. For more information on the forum, visit our events page, or contact Jamila Edwards at jedwards@childrensdefense.org. We hope to see you on March 25th!

Youth in Long Beach Speak Out About Zero-Tolerance

On March 30th, the Building Healthy Communities Long Beach Youth Committee will kick off the “Every Student Matters” (ESM) campaign, an entirely student-led effort to include the voice of students and youth in conversations about school discipline policies. ESM is laser-focused on identifying and supporting policies and programs in Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) that help students stay in school and graduate on time. Their campaign will collaborate with LBUSD leaders, child advocates, and students to foster a supportive school environment, explore the root causes of behavior problems, and promote alternatives to punitive, exclusionary practices that lockout students from the education to which they are entitled.

The campaign launch will take place on Sunday, March 30th, from 4:00p – 7:30p at Cesar Chavez Park in Long Beach. A suite of activities are planned, including student panel discussions, speeches by student leaders, dazzling performances and exhibits by youth artists, slam poetry and “Got Talent” dance competitions, cash prizes, raffles, and giveaways, as well as college and career services and public health resources. See our event page for more details about the ESM campaign launch. You can also RSVP on Facebook.

Do You Tweet

We are excited to announce that CDF-CA has opened a Twitter account! Twitter offers us a unique opportunity to amplify the voice of children in the state by building relationships with policymakers, advocates, and community members. Follow us at twitter.com/cdfca to learn about our events and activities, receive breaking news stories on the state budget and legislation, and keep up to date on our efforts to make sure children are a priority in California!