Education
The Children’s Defense Fund recently joined 53 other civil rights nonprofits in calling on the U.S. Department of Education to withdraw an interim final rule that would require school districts to divert more COVID-19 relief funds to private school students under the CARES Act than is actually required—or intended—under the law.
Immigration
Economic stimulus payments, also known as cash assistance, help families make ends meet during this crisis and they also support children’s well-being and healthy development. Politicians must act swiftly to ensure the next COVID relief package is the most robust and inclusive yet, and that must include our immigrant neighbors and their children. Let’s live up to our values and do right by our kids, no matter where they come from or what they look like.
Child Poverty
President Trump signed four executive actions on Saturday that not only side-step Congress and potentially violate the Constitution, but do very little to provide meaningful relief for the children, families, and communities suffering from the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The House passed the HEROES Act in May but the Senate and the Trump Administration’s delays and unwillingness to negotiate have only worsened the impact of the pandemic and left families without critical support. Rather than an overreach of executive power and executive actions that do very little, we need immediate congressional action on a relief package with meaningful benefits and adequate funding.
Child Health
Rather than investing in a militarized border, wasteful Pentagon spending, or tax breaks for the wealthiest corporations, we must invest in our children, families, and Black and Brown communities amid ongoing health and economic uncertainties. The measure of our moral and economic priorities should be how we uplift our children and increase prosperity for the millions of children who want to learn, grow, and succeed.
Early Childhood
Joan Lunden helped teach my parents English. They’d left the former Soviet Union in 1993, religious refugees reuniting with family in the United States, and spent the next seven months watching Americans talking on television. Evening talk shows were like language arts classes -- my dad would watch David Letterman and Jay Leno because their voices were clear and crisp, and then Rush Limbaugh an hour later because “you had to know English to understand him.” In the mornings they’d tune into Good Morning America (GMA), hanging onto Lunden’s every word.
Education
This spring, thousands of bedrooms, kitchens, and front porches—including my own home in central Virginia—turned into classrooms. As the COVID-19 pandemic surged across the United States, schools and universities closed, and classes shifted to digital formats. Though I griped about my early morning video calls, I made it through a surprise online half-semester of college largely without problem
Child Health
My hope for the future, for our nation’s children, is for there to no longer be stigma around mental health. Our future relies on the success of our children and youth. If we aren’t taking care of them now, how can we be sure they are taken care of in the future? This passion has encouraged me to start a nonprofit organization. One that provides mental health services to youth in areas where these services aren’t available. One that uplifts children of color and shows them that anything is possible. And one that may change everyone’s opinion about mental health.
Early Childhood
The HEALS Act’s $15 billion investment would keep the system afloat for less than two months and falls far short of the at least $50 billion that is needed to stabilize the system. We urge you to provide at least $50 billion in funding for child care in the next relief package to meet the needs of child care providers, educators, and parents and to reflect the essential role child care plays in supporting our public health response now and our recovery from this crisis.