Dear Friends,

Many of us entered 2022 with high hopes for the passage of major federal legislation that would have had a transformative impact on millions of children and families with low incomes and communities of color across the country. While our expectations were tapered by the end of 2022, we can’t dismiss last year’s notable accomplishments at the federal level—passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the omnibus appropriations act—all of which included historic investments in infrastructure, jobs, and climate. For CLASP, 2022 was a year of major transitions and impact at the federal, state, and local levels. I encourage you to look at our newly released 2022 Impact Report to see more of our achievements from last year.

CLASP’s New Leadership
Since I joined CLASP, we have welcomed several new leadership team members whose impressive expertise and passion for our work will ensure continuity, sustainability, and innovation. In February 2023, we welcomed our new chief operating officer, Dana Bailey, who has taken over from Cormekki Whitley, CLASP’s first COO. Elizabeth Lower-Basch stepped into the role of deputy executive director for policy at the end of 2022, leaving vacant the director of income and work supports role. I’m excited to announce Cara Brumfield as the new director of income and work supports who joined CLASP in March. And we just hired Rricha deCant who joins CLASP this month as our director of legislative affairs. With these transitions at the senior level, we remain committed to supporting ongoing change management, particularly in our leadership, to ensure cohesion and sustained commitment to our mission, vision, and values. Stay tuned for updates on this journey and new additions to our CLASP family.

Snapshot of CLASP’s 2023 Accomplishments
The work ahead requires us to be nimble, employing a strong defense to face current policy threats, while simultaneously playing offense to ensure sustainable advancements toward real economic security. The challenges we face and the issues we address are complex and systemic. Advancing transformative solutions that create meaningful change requires 1) creativity to seed and successfully implement big ideas; 2) strategic collaborations at all levels to ensure equity and always center those most affected; and 3) ongoing assessment to measure gains, track progress, and document harms to inform new approaches.

So far in 2023 CLASP has been instrumental on several policy fronts:

Advancing Wins on the Immigration Front – Our immigration and immigrant families team played a role in an important victory for immigrant justice this month, as the administration announced it will issue regulations to expand access to health insurance to DACA recipients. CLASP and our partners have been fighting for this outcome since 2012!
Centering Racial Equity in Data – CLASP recently published a brief about equitable data practices in early care and education and how they can improve disciplinary actions and treatment of Black and other children of color. Doing so will support improvements in policies and practices to best meet the needs of children and families.
Reimagining SNAP as an Anti-Racist Program – Last year, our income and work supports team, in partnership with the Community Partnership Group, developed a new vision for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as an anti-racist program. During this year’s reauthorization of the Farm Bill, we are advocating for this vision and continuing to fight against harmful proposals, such as expanded work requirements and time limits.
Supporting the Care Economy – In partnership with a broad coalition, CLASP helped persuade the Biden Administration to use its executive authority across more than 50 federal agencies to support the care economy. The White House featured our statement of support among those of other groups for the sweeping executive order signed by President Biden in an April Rose Garden ceremony attended by our director of child care and early education.
Centering Youth Activism in Policy – In April, our youth policy team, in collaboration with the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, hosted a two-day summit that attracted over 100 participants. The summit included five policy presentations from experts in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin, California, and Utah focused on strategies that support youth ages 16-25. Attendees heard a powerful discussion among five youth panelists, ages 16-24, from Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Oregon, and Utah, along with other presenters. This discussion focused on the need to engage youth at the front end of policy development because of the impact these policies will have on their lives. The conference’s keynote speakers included U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and former CLASP board member Dr. Angela Díaz, among others.
Coalition Building Toward Greater Impact – We recently partnered with four national organizations to launch the National Alliance of Youth and Young Adult Advocates, an initiative to champion the policy supports young people need during this key developmental period as they move into adulthood.
Shaping the Narrative – Our immigration team in coordination with our communications team played a pivotal role in helping shape the reporting in a recent New York Times story by Jason DeParle. “Safety Net Barriers Add to Child Poverty in Immigrant Families” was an insightful examination of these restrictive policies that included several accounts from families living in poverty because of barriers that make it difficult, if not impossible, for them to access government programs that support basic needs.

2023 Priorities

Each year, CLASP teams develop work plans addressing federal, state, and local policy advocacy priorities; organizational sustainability and effectiveness strategies; and plans to engage partners. We link these efforts to our annual Ten Goals, which provide a blueprint for advancing our mission and vision. This year our work seeks to:

Provide much-needed and sought-after local, state, and federal support around implementation of major legislation, while making programs and policies more equitable.
Nurture, grow, and strengthen authentic relationships with impacted people and organizations primarily led by people of color that prioritize power building and dismantling inequitable power structures to center racial, gender, and economic equity in our work.
Support broader narrative change that innovatively uplifts our work and centers the experiences and voices of those most impacted.
Advance policies that transform lives and communities by developing and disseminating valuable research and data analysis to the broader social and economic justice ecosystem.
Be a leading voice and champion on centering racial equity in policy.

The work ahead is a huge undertaking for CLASP’s staff of nearly 60 multi-talented individuals. Their ongoing passion, invaluable expertise, and desire to make real change for children and families across the country – despite the odds – energize me every day. I hope it will do the same for you, too.

Continuing to support CLASP, whether with a one-time generous donation, sustained monthly contribution, or spreading the word about CLASP to your networks, are just a few meaningful ways to help.

I have truly enjoyed getting to know many of you and look forward to more connections in the future. If you have any questions or ideas, please feel free to reach out.

Warmly,