By Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson
This election season has been filled with twists and turns. Some turns have left us deeply concerned, while others have given us hope. No one is sure how it will turn out.
Whatever the outcome, at Children’s Defense Fund our everyday commitment to young people and their families will continue. We know that while events at the national level are important, we need to continue our grassroots movement to impact policies at the state and local levels where many of the decisions impacting the lives of young people are made.
The outcome of the election won’t change our core priorities; only where we might put the greatest emphasis. We are laying plans for the first 100 days of the new Administration, to ensure that we center children and families in public policy. Our moonshot goals include:
- Just & Caring Communities: Eliminating youth jails and detention centers to deliver on CDF’s historic commitment to end the criminalization of children.
- Family Stability & Economic Mobility: Enacting a permanent, universal family or child allowance to deliver on our historic commitment to “end child poverty.”
- Children’s Health & Healing: Providing permanent, universal free school meals so all children get the nourishment they need without stigma and expanding coverage for young people’s physical and mental health.
- Education for Civic Life & Work: Lowering the federal voting age to 16 to give young people voice in decisions that impact their lives and evolving public school funding from a primary reliance on property taxes to a more equitable revenue model.
- Early Learning & Development: Establishing universal, public, quality pre-K for all children beginning at three years old, setting them up for success and eliminating a primary economic stressor on families.
It will take a strong base of grassroots supporters and volunteers to achieve these goals. While much of this will take a federal push, many children in need rely on state support.
Unfortunately, the same states rejecting social and emotional wellness supports for young people in their classrooms are turning away federal support for food for children during the summer and removing them from Medicaid rolls. These are also the states where young people are more likely to be Black, Brown, and poor. The critical work to oppose these harmful trends will happen at the grassroots level, a space where CDF has long been a leader thanks to committed community leaders like you.
While the future is uncertain, I am filled with hope when I sit in with our Black Student Leadership Network, when I gather with other faith leaders who prioritize young people’s well-being, and when I see lawmakers stand up for policies that improve the lives of families. I am encouraged when I consider the determination of our CDF family. Thank you for standing with our nation’s children and youth, no matter what happens.