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Child Defender,

It's been an active year so far, and we're as committed as ever to defend and protect children across the country. As you'll see below, our work across the country is comprehensive and urgent. Thank you for your continued support for--and dedication to--children. We're grateful for your friendship.

The CDF Team

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American Rescue Plan Anniversary, Child Tax Credit, and Your 2021 Taxes

This week marks the one year anniversary of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act. As co-chair of the Automatic Benefit for Children (ABC) Coalition, the Children's Defense Fund played a vital role in leading advocacy efforts that ultimately resulted in the inclusion of an expanded and fully inclusive Child Tax Credit (CTC) in the ARP. Because of our ongoing advocacy efforts, the expanded CTC will reach a record nearly 40 million families with 65 million children. While the monthly CTC payments ended in 2021, it is critical for our communities to understand that there is still a lot of money on the table for families with children. Read more and find resources for claiming your CTC on our website.

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Your Impact in Action

Thanks to the support of people like you, we expanded healthy school meals and successfully won an extension and increase of SNAP benefits. The extension helps nearly 1 in 5 children with food assistance. Learn more about your impact.

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Defending Trans Children

America's children deserve the freedom to be their authentic selves. Late last month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released a non-binding legal opinion deeming pediatric gender-affirming care child abuse. Governor Greg Abbott followed by directing state agencies to investigate. Meanwhile, more than 65,000 Texas children were actually abused or neglected in 2020 and 251 lost their lives.

These leaders' words and actions are a heartless attack on children and contradict guidance from every major medical association in the nation. Nowhere in this country should any parent fear that their child may become a victim to this type of political game.

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Your Support Makes a Difference

The fight for children happens 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and that's particularly true as we face such an uncertain future. With your support, we will continue fighting nonstop to make sure our children's voices are heard in the halls of power and their needs are met with urgency.
Donate today.

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Advocacy for Children Across the Country
Our work in Washington, D.C. and around the country happens year-round. Here are some updates on our recent efforts.

Federal:
- The Automatic Benefit for Children (ABC) Coalition advocated for a simplified filing, which led to the Biden Administration creating a simplified filing tool for 2022 for families who need an easier way to file taxes. The ABC coalition also published a letter with 400 other national, state, and local organizations to ensure the expanded Child Tax Credit is extended.
- CDF continues to advance a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrant families. Citizenship must be the starting point, and not the destination, in securing opportunities for all children to grow and thrive. Citizenship means better opportunities for improved health and mental health outcomes, strengthened health care access, and much more to support children's healthy development. Learn more.

California:
- The work of CDF-California helped secure $2.8 billion to support the California Community Schools Program for up to 1,000 California communities to build or expand integrated services (health, mental health, social services, and educational support) for children and families. This win has further implications as the program can potentially serve as a national model.
- CDF-CA also led a statewide coalition to demand sufficient state funding for the establishment and operations of the new Office of Youth and Community Restoration (OYCR)--California's first state body dedicated to overseeing the treatment of all youth involved in the justice system. The collective advocacy by impacted individuals resulted in a doubling of the budget allocation for OYCR. OYCR was allocated $7.6 million in ongoing funding and $20 million of one-time funding.

Minnesota:
- CDF-MN's whole child, whole family advocacy efforts were critical to informing the creation of Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan's budget plan, resulting in a budget that incorporated CDF-MN's key recommendations including investments in child care and out-of-school time programs; promoting access to paid family and medical leave; streamlining public benefits; prioritizing mental health and wellness; and funding community based solutions.

New York:
- CDF-NY supported its partners in the Solutions Not Suspensions Coalition as they rallied in New York City with 100+ students to end discriminatory school discipline practices.
- Additionally, CDF-NY recently released Our New York Children's Budget: A Community Vision for Prioritizing Our Children, a whole-child holistic blueprint for child and youth health and wellbeing in New York that centers the needs of marginalized children, families and communities. To celebrate the release of this publication, CDF-NY hosted a virtual event featuring young advocates, impacted community leaders and elected officials to discuss the investments New York must make now to put our young people first.

Ohio:
- CDF-OH has been partnering with youth and alumni with experience in foster care to elevate the need for changes to better support youth in the child welfare system. As a result of this work, the Ohio Legislature passed H.B. 4, which creates Ohio's first Youth Ombudsman.

Southern Regional Office:
- In partnership with the Southern Rural Black Women's Initiative (SRBWI) and Human Rights Watch, we recently released "We Need Access" Ending Preventable Deaths from Cervical Cancer in Rural Georgia. This project engaged and trained nine local Black women from SRBWI to document the disproportionate impact of highly preventable and treatable cervical cancer disease and deaths among Black women and young women in rural Georgia counties. We're now using report findings to address the high cervical cancer mortality rates among Black women and young women, and to advance Medicaid Expansion.

Texas:
- CDF-TX launched a statewide campaign to address the "chilling effect," an intentional side effect of anti-immigrant policies that creates a climate of fear and confusion and acts as a deterrence for immigrant families from claiming public benefits for which they are eligible. The campaign aimed to spread awareness that it is safe for immigrant families to apply for public benefits.
- Additionally, they have started a new program to support youth advocates fighting for the freedom to learn amid book bans and efforts to censor classroom conversations.

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Preparing for the 2022 CDF Freedom Schools®

We're excited to partner with more than 110 sponsoring organizations and 184 sites (and counting) to welcome more than 11,000 scholars to this year's CDF Freedom Schools.

We also recently welcomed Keely Norris as the Director of Training Initiatives. She is a proud educator with degrees in Special Education (B.S.) and Curriculum and Instruction (M.S.) from Florida State University, and Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (Ed.S) from Virginia Tech. She taught middle school special education for three years in Tallahassee, FL, where she also co-founded and operated North Florida Freedom Schools. Since moving to Washington, D.C. she has taught both middle school and high school special education and volunteered and consulted for the CDF Freedom Schools program. She is a proud Ella Baker Trainer alum, and credits the CDF Freedom Schools program as one of the biggest influences in her professional and personal life.

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Save the date: 2022 Proctor Institute

This year's 28th annual CDF Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry will be back on the storied grounds of CDF Haley Farm, the spiritual home of the children's movement. Sessions will also be accessible virtually. Registration information to come.

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Build a Legacy of Hope and Resilience

Create a legacy that ensures no child gets left behind一today, tomorrow, and for the future. Consider adding CDF to your will by using Freewill. You can leave a lasting legacy by setting up your will at no charge in less than 30 minutes. Get started today.

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