Over 60 Organizations Urge Congress to Include Waivers for WIC in the Next COVID-19 Relief Package
For decades, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) has delivered quality nutrition services in community-based clinical settings to improve pregnancy and birth outcomes and promote healthy child development. In order to sustain much-needed program modifications to provide services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we urge that any final legislative package that responds to the public health and economic crises include an extension of USDA waiver authority for WIC services through at least September 30, 2021.
CDF Urges Congress to Provide Adequate Funding for Child Care in the Next COVID-19 Relief Package
The HEALS Act’s $15 billion investment would keep the system afloat for less than two months and falls far short of the at least $50 billion that is needed to stabilize the system. We urge you to provide at least $50 billion in funding for child care in the next relief package to meet the needs of child care providers, educators, and parents and to reflect the essential role child care plays in supporting our public health response now and our recovery from this crisis.
CDF Joins the Call for the Department of Education to Withdraw the Rule that Would Divert More Funds to Private Schools
We joined leading organizations to express our opposition to the Department of Education's interim final rule on "CARES Act Program; Equitable Services to Students and Teachers in Non-Public Schools" and particularly to the scenario provided that would require school districts to divert more funds to private school students in the name of the CARES Act's "equitable services" provision than is required under the law. This interim rule does not prioritize students facing the greatest barriers to education success.
To Honor the Life and Legacy of Congressman John Lewis, Congress Should Enact the Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Election Provisions of the HEROES Act
To honor the life and legacy of the late Congressman John Lewis, more than 150 organizations urge Congress to enact federal legislation to safeguard the fundamental right to vote. There would be no truer tribute to Representative Lewis than for the Senate to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act (“VRAA”) – recently reintroduced as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act – and the election provisions of the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (“HEROES”) Act. Enacting these critical legislative measures would protect the integrity of the November election and counter the disenfranchisement of communities of color that the nation has sadly witnessed in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s infamous Shelby County v. Holder opinion in 2013.
CDF Joined Over 80 National Organizations Calling for Congress to Enact New Pandemic Relief Legislation to Reduce the Harms of the Health and Economic Crisis
We urge Congress to enact new pandemic relief legislation that can effectively reduce the harsh scope of the health and economic crisis engulfing our nation. Congress must approve (1) cash and other assistance to prevent devastating and long-term losses to the jobless and families; (2) protections and resources to create conditions for a safe return to work; (3) state and local aid to ensure adequate health care, education, and many other essential services; and (4) Congress must protect mainstays of our democracy from being undermined by the pandemic: safe voting; the U.S. Postal Service; and the decennial Census.
Nearly 800 Organizations Call On Congress to Include Immigrant Families in COVID-19 Relief Packages
CDF joined nearly 800 organizations in urging Congress to address the exclusion of immigrant families, workers, taxpayers, and their U.S. children and spouses, from the CARES Act and other COVID-19 recovery packages passed by Congress in the next pandemic relief legislation. Immigrants have been left out of every relief package so far, even though they are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and are risking their health and safety as essential workers during the pandemic. We cannot let immigrants be excluded from relief again. If our nation wants to recover from this economic and public health crisis, we must ensure that everyone is included
Appeal from Experts in Child Welfare, Child Health, and Child Development: Free the Families and Promote Family Unity
94 child welfare, health, and safety experts write to ICE after witnessing this administration’s continued systematic implementation of practices to separate immigrant families. Amidst the backdrop of a public health crisis, we must renew our shared concern that your agency will harm children by taking them from their parents in order to deter or punish families who come to this country seeking protection .
CDF Joins 270+ Organizations Calling for HHS to Take Action on Pending Medicaid Section 1115 Demonstrations to Address Racial Disparities and Systemic Racism
One consequence of the systemic racism highlighted by the pandemic and nationwide protests against racial inequality and injustices is the health disparities faced by Black people in general, and Black women in particular. Medicaid, which provides coverage for over 70 million people with low incomes who -- due to systemic racism and barriers to care – are disproportionately people of color, has an unmatched opportunity to reduce these disparities. We urge you to take two immediate steps with respect to Medicaid section 1115 demonstrations that will work to mitigate racial disparities rather than making them worse.
Leading Child Development Organizations Urge Congress to Provide Health Start with Needed Funding Amid COVID-19
Amidst the challenges of COVID-19, we urge your support of $1.7 billion in supplemental funding to provide Head Start with the necessary resources to maintain high-quality program delivery in communities across our country. For families struggling to make ends meet, toiling away to finish a degree, or searching for stable work, COVID-19 has been an emotional and economic blow, bringing with it a daunting response and recovery process. Fortunately, in all of our communities and especially during this pandemic, Head Start and Early Head Start programs have stepped up to ensure nearly one million children are receiving basic care, new mothers are buttressed against this storm, early learning is advanced, and families living on the edge are surrounded with support.
