Health
Infographic: Universal School Meals are Essential for Advancing Racial Equity
Institutional racism disproportionately denies Black, Latinx, and Indigenous children access to healthy food at home and in their communities.
Health
Institutional racism disproportionately denies Black, Latinx, and Indigenous children access to healthy food at home and in their communities.
Child Welfare
With growing research on the harms of institutional placements and continued calls to action from young people who experienced these placements, we must ensure young people impacted by the child welfare system have the resources they need to thrive with their relatives or in a family-like setting.
Child Poverty
Roughly 15 million people in 6.5 million renter households are currently behind on their rent and face an increased risk of eviction. To protect these families and their children, Congress should extend the moratorium until the pandemic is over and all the emergency rental assistance provided in previous COVID-relief bills has reached renters in need.
Child Poverty
All 17 million children who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to access nutritious meals—nearly a quarter of all children in America—will receive additional assistance starting in October. This week, the Biden administration approved an historic expansion of the program, permanently raising benefit levels for the first time in more than 45 years. It is a long-overdue expansion and a critical step towards ending child poverty, advancing racial equity, and improving child well-being.
Child Welfare
The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute’s Foster Youth Internship (FYI) Program® brings a cohort of young adults who have experienced the foster care system to intern in congressional offices on Capitol Hill and publish policy recommendations to best support young people impacted by the foster care system. After serving on a specialized COVID-19 Foster Youth Intern Pandemic Working Group, the 2021 Foster Youth Interns went on to intern for congressional offices this summer and have authored "Building the Path Forward for Change in the Child Welfare System" based on their experiences and expertise.
Child Poverty
Immigrant children and families—like all children and families—deserve public benefits and income supports that promote their healthy development and well-being. Yet the law’s cruel restrictions had ripple effects, chilled access to benefits even when immigrant families were eligible, and arguably paved the path for the Trump administration’s exclusionary policies and anti-immigrant, fear-fueling rhetoric.
Education
Harsh and exclusionary discipline practices have long-lasting, traumatizing, and potentially life-threatening consequences on students, disproportionately targeting and harming Black students and students with disabilities. As schools consider returning to in-person in the fall, we must ensure our students aren’t returning to a norm of criminalization and harm.
Child Poverty
The American Rescue Plan includes a significant, one-year expansion to the Child Tax Credit (CTC). Millions of newly eligible children and their families will benefit from this major expansion, and successful implementation is now key to realizing a significant reduction in child poverty, building racial equity, and creating a public investment for the good of all children. Here’s what you need to know about the expanded CTC.