Celebrating the 2nd Anniversary of the Affordable Care Act
 March 23, 2012 marked the 2nd anniversary of the national health reform law enacted in 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and we have many good reasons to celebrate the law’s big wins for California children, including:
- No-cost preventative care for children: 1.6 million California children can now receive prevention services like annual check-ups and immunizations without co-pays.
- Young adults can now stay on their parents’ health plans until age 26: More than 350,000 California young adults are able to keep health coverage as a result.
- Insurers can no longer deny coverage to children: Almost 600,000 California children with pre-existing conditions and their families can no longer be denied health coverage, and 3.2 million California children are no longer subject to arbitrary lifetime limits on their coverage.
- Protection of public health coverage for low-income children: 4.5 million California children depend on Medi-Cal or Healthy Families for health coverage, and the ACA protects that coverage.
- More affordable health insurance: Starting in 2014, the California Health Benefit Exchange will provide a way for all Californians to find quality, affordable coverage.
The best thing you can do to celebrate the Affordable Care Act’s wins for California kids is to share this easy-to-read card outlining the Top 5 ACA Benefits for California Children with your friends and neighbors (available in English and Spanish).
Read a blog post by CDF-CA's Michele Stillwell-Parvensky in the California Progress Report: Two Years Later: What the Affordable Care Act Has Done for California's Children.
CDF-CA Youth Take Next Steps to Reform School Discipline Policies
 On March 10th, the Children’s Defense Fund-California’s Youth Policy Advisory Committee (YPAC) gathered more than one hundred fifty students from the Greater Los Angeles area in an effort to incite a discussion amongst their peers on the school-to-prison pipeline crisis. YPAC leader Treasure Porter, a senior at Amino Lock High School 3, says, “The school-to-prison pipeline is setting us up for failure.” She added, “We need you to trust us and give us hope to mature through education.”
The summit featured a simulation exercise to help youth participants better understand the school-to-prison pipeline. Speakers included Los Angeles County Supervisor for District 2, Mark Ridley-Thomas, Manuel Criollo from the Strategy Center’s CRC, Kim McGill from the Youth Justice Coalition, David Sapp from ACLU, and local student leaders who have been impacted by this pipeline. To show their commitment, youth participants signed a pledge to work within their schools and communities as change-agents to help educate youth and dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline.
YPAC leader Caylin Moore, a senior at Verbum Dei High School was interviewed the Los Angeles Wave. Caylin states “It’s pointless to come to school if you’re not going to get the opportunity to learn, and it also discourages. [Black kids] are categorized. You’re marked as a bad student and you might drop out.” Read the article featuring Caylin Moore.
The Youth Policy Advisory Committee envisions this summit as the first of several actions to educate and organize youth throughout LA County. As a follow up to the youth summit, two YPAC leaders, Richard Kent from Belmont High School and Nancy Kannampuzha from Warren High School attended an April 11th Senate Education Committee Hearing in Sacramento and testified on behalf of legislation designed to dismantle the school to prison pipeline and enhance school-wide positive behavior support.
REGISTER TODAY: The Children’s Defense Fund National Conference, July 22-25, Cincinnati, Ohio
 The Children’s Defense Fund national conference will gather 3,000 leading advocates, researchers, educators, policymakers, practitioners, and faith leaders, including 1,000 young adult leaders from July 22nd - July 25th in Cincinnati, Ohio to create real change for children at the local, state and federal levels.
In our first national conference since 2003, we will examine strategies to close off the major feeder systems fueling the Cradle to Prison Pipeline and mass incarceration including:
- Poverty
- Racial disparities
- Zero tolerance school discipline policies
- The achievement gap between poor and nonpoor
- Lack of access to health care
We will showcase the community building and engagement programs CDF and our allies have been developing that inspire children, engage parents, stop summer learning loss, and teach social justice through service and civic activism, including:
- CDF Freedom Schools®, Young Advocate Leadership Training, and Beat the Odds® programs
- Harlem Children’s Zone and Promise Neighborhoods
- Children’s Sabbath networks and Intergenerational networks
- Best practices to enroll eligible children in health care
- Comprehensive continuum of care from birth to adulthood, with a strong emphasis on Early Childhood development and education
Join CDF and hundreds of California child advocates and REGISTER TODAY for Children's Defense Fund's national conference!
For more information, visit www.cdfca.org or call 213-355-8787.
Justice for Trayvon: CDF’s Responses to the Trayvon Martin Tragedy and the 2012 CDF National Gun Report
“Walking While Black”: CDF President and Founder Marian Wright Edelman responds to the senseless killing of Trayvon Martin.
“Protect Children, Not Guns 2012”: A Compilation of the most recent and reliable national and state data on gun violence in America.
Listen to CDF-CA’s Northern California Director Jamila Iris Edwards’ interview with “The Lady Brain Show” about the Trayvon Martin tragedy and CDF’s National Gun Report. 
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