Our Voice for Children
October 2022
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John,
Thank you for your continued support for children and youth across the United States. We are as committed as ever to young people and their families and communities throughout the country. With your help, we will continue working to build a nation where marginalized children flourish, leaders prioritize their well-being, and communities wield the power to ensure they thrive.
The CDF Team
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This month, Children’s Defense Fund’s (CDF) President and CEO Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson co-hosted a Poverty Task Force meeting to discuss issues related to child well-being and spotlight new data reflecting a decline in childhood poverty. Dr. Wilson spoke on a broad range of issues facing young people and their families, including affordable housing, education equity, gun violence in schools, and CDF’s work to improve the lives of American’s most disenfranchised children.
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We’re celebrating another successful summer of the CDF Freedom Schools® program across the U.S. This summer, CDF Freedom Schools sites operated in 28 states and the District of Columbia with almost 20 partners and countless volunteers. Because of you, scholars and Student Leader Interns (SLIs) across the country participated in this year’s CDF Freedom Schools. Thank you! Read the full 2021-2022 local impact report here.
To learn more about how to sponsor a CDF Freedom Schools site, visit the link below.
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The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools® program and Florida A&M University (FAMU) were awarded the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) grant this summer. The grant was awarded to conduct a two-week hybrid summer institute for educators entitled Centering Youth Agency in the Civil Rights Movement.
Project co-directors, Dr. Kristal Moore Clemons, national director of the CDF Freedom Schools program, and Dr. Darius Young, of Florida A&M University, will launch the institute in June 2023 at CDF Haley Farm in Clinton, Tennessee, the former home of Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Alex Haley, and the current retreat center of Children’s Defense Fund. Read the full announcement to learn more.
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CDF-Minnesota has developed several multimedia tools and resources to support their partners and communicate with various stakeholders. The CDF-MN Freedom Schools® History Guide provides CDF Freedom Schools partners in Minnesota with a complete curriculum guide, materials, and resources to engage parents and explain the full history, purpose, and impact of CDF Freedom Schools.
Thriving Children, Thriving Minnesota is a new blog series launched by CDF-MN. The blog will share research-based, community-sourced policy recommendations to help ensure all Minnesota children and youth have what they need to thrive. Read the first two policy briefs at the links below:
Interested in learning about where Minnesota ranks according to this year’s 2022 Kids Count® Data Book? Learn more here.
You can also check out this year’s CDF-MN's National Day of Social Action below!
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As part of the national Journey to Success Campaign, CDF-New York Transition Age Youth Project Manager José Á. Pérez spoke at the White House to commemorate foster care month in May. CDF-NY Director of Youth Justice and Child Welfare Julia Davis accompanied José. They joined other leaders with lived experience in the foster care system from across the country who were there to uplift reform priorities for transition age youth. The meeting included Deputy Secretary January Contreras from the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, White House American Rescue Plan Coordinator Gene Sperling, as well as members of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ staff working on child welfare issues. José shared powerful insights from his own experience in the foster care system as a teenager. The group identified several areas for reform related to kinship care, LBGTQIA+ youth, cultural responsiveness, mental health, housing, sibling ties, and the foster care-to-prison pipeline. This meeting integrated CDF-NY’s new Transition Age Youth organizing and direct cash transfer pilot project into federal advocacy through the Journey to Success Campaign. The CDF-NY team is excited about the opportunities ahead for their new youth action organizers to lead more advocacy on these issues in the year ahead.
Designed in partnership with youth who have lived expertise in the system, CDF-NY is also launching its first direct cash transfer (also known as “universal” or “guaranteed basic income”) pilot program for young people who have aged out of foster care. The NYC pilot is part of a larger, multi-year, youth-led policy, research, storytelling, and organizing project led by José Perez, María Caba, and Julia Davis in New York. Recently, CDF-NY’s Executive Director Kercena Dozier joined José, María, and two youth researchers on the project in presenting at CDF’s 2022 Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute.
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In the first of its kind, CDF-Ohio partnered with Baldwin Wallace University’s Community Research Institute (BW CRI) to conduct a statewide poll asking Ohio parents what they want for their child’s education. Over the past six months, CDF-OH worked with BW CRI researchers to design a survey instrument to accurately measure parents’ attitudes towards the Whole Child Framework. The survey consisted of 71 questions that fell into nine unique categories, including school nutrition, mental health, life skills, trust in teachers, and social-emotional learning.
Learn more about the Whole Child Framework and read the survey results below.
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CDF-OH recently launched its first youth series blog featuring youth-centered voices. The youth blog platforms Black and Brown young people who share their insight and experience, centering issues of impact in Ohio and beyond. Read the first two installations of CDF-OH's youth blog here.
You can also explore CDF-OH's interactive dashboard for Ohio’s 2022 Kids Count ® Data Book and read results here.
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Following the 2022 Mississippi Legislative Session, the CDF-Southern Regional Office has been hard at work monitoring the funding and implementation of resources from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The state received nearly $1.8 billion in ARPA funding to be appropriated by the MS Legislature. Another $500 million in ARPA funding went directly to the MS Department of Human Services to stabilize MS' childcare business sector.
CDF-SRO helped inform members of the MS Legislature to direct ARPA appropriations toward positively impacting the state's children, youth, and families. Suggestions included supporting frontline workers in the health care field, including social workers who struggled with increased family dysfunction, violence, and mental health issues. CDF-SRO staff also suggested expanding postpartum coverage and helping to ensure quality and affordable broadband resources are available to rural and low-income communities and families, specifically those of color.
CDF-SRO provides leadership with a network of early childhood education stakeholders to encourage technical and financial assistance by the MS Department of Human Services to over 1,000 childcare centers.
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This spring, CDF-Texas launched its student advocacy guide. CDF-Texas' youth civic education and engagement team has been traveling the state, speaking to hundreds of young people to support their advocacy.
CDF-TX also launched a climate justice guide this summer for their elementary school-aged CDF Freedom Schools scholars. The short guide followed the climate-focused National Day of Social Action.
The outreach teams continue to be creative to reach families where they are. CDF-TX is proud to build new partnerships with pastors, elementary schools, and more.
In the Rio Grande Valley, CDF-TX enrolled more than 100 families in healthcare.gov plans—helping set a new record for Texas! In East Texas, the team hosted two outreach and enrollment health fairs with the support of Amerigroup and brought a new hygiene closet to Tyler with Superior HealthPlan.
In 2022, CDF-TX launched a statewide campaign to help immigrant families feel safe and informed when applying for public programs. In the face of anti-immigrant rhetoric in Texas, we're fighting to make sure every family has the tools they need to make the best decision for themselves about public benefits. Access the website and help spread the message!
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Create a legacy that helps ensure children and youth thrive—today, tomorrow, and in 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.
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