Child Poverty

  • Child Poverty

    What You Need to Know About TANF: A Brief Background on the Basics

    Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a federal block grant program for states, tribes, and territories designed to help families with a variety of services. States receive the block grant funding and use it to administer programs that provide cash assistance, child care, work supports and activities, child welfare, and more. States also use the funding to help families with children experiencing poverty pay for groceries, rent, diapers, clothing, and other basic necessities. In Fiscal Year 2020, which spans from October 2019 – September 2020, more than 1 million families—including more than 2 million children—received TANF assistance.

  • Child Health

    2021 Legislative Session Report Card

    With the conclusion of the 2021 Legislative Session, we pause to take stock of progress for New York’s children and families, celebrate our victories and assess where further advocacy is needed to level the playing field for the youngest New Yorkers.

  • Child Poverty

    The Child Tax Credit Will Not Reach Every Child Until Congress Simplifies Complicated Tax Rules

    The current expanded CTC still leaves out hundreds of thousands of children due to arcane rules built into the tax code, collectively known as the “child-claiming” rules. It is time for Congress to rewrite the child-claiming rules to ensure the CTC follows each child, no matter their household composition, family structure, or where they live.

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  • Child Poverty

    To Reach Every Child, the Child Tax Credit Eligibility Requirements Must Be Changed

    To ensure that no child is excluded from the CTC because of their family structure, frequency of moving, or their involvement in other systems, Congress must make critical changes to the definition of “qualifying child” for the purpose of the CTC. To expand eligibility, the CTC should be accessible to all children regardless of their relationship to their caregiver and the bene t should continue to support children and their families as their living arrangements change.

  • Child Poverty

    Monthly Payments for Families with Children are Coming, Guaranteed Income Pilots Can Tell Us What to Expect

    Unconditional, generous, and broad cash helps the lives of families and children and the Stockton experiment should be a guide as we study the effects of the expanded CTC and work to build this expansion into a permanent, universal child allowance. The work is far from over, but in July, when families begin to receive their first checks, the power of unconditional cash will be felt across the country.

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  • Child Poverty

    CDF Urges Congress to Pass a Robust Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) Bill and Ensure Equitable Access to Meals

    Children and families need ongoing support and access to healthy, nutritious meals during the pandemic and beyond. We cannot revert back to strict, outdated, and inflexible standards that leave millions of children—disproportionately Black, Latinx, and Indigenous children—behind and vulnerable to hunger. To truly build back better and advance racial equity, we must fully and finally eliminate barriers to healthy food and success for all children. Congress can—and must—begin right now and advance a bold CNR bill.

  • Child Health

    What President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Means for Our Nation’s Children and Families

    President Biden recently released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Budget request to Congress to strengthen the economy, address longstanding racial disparities, and ensure a more equitable future for our children. After a year marked by such dramatic change and drastic negative impact on children’s lives, we need meaningful investments in supports for children and families. President Biden’s FY22 budget request starts to do just that.

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