Heading back to school should be an exciting time. We expect our children to be a little nervous, maybe wondering if they’ll like their new teachers or if they’ll be in homeroom with their friends. But as kids head back to class across the country, we know that too many have more serious worries on their minds—things like hunger, illness, and even their own survival.
You can help. Learn what the Children’s Defense Fund is doing to address our children’s concerns and find out what steps you can take to ensure all children in our country can focus on learning and achieving, not on safety and survival:
A recent proposal from the Trump administration would result in more than 3 million people losing food assistance and more than 500,000 children losing their automatic eligibility for free school meals. Learn how we’re fighting this change and what you can do to help.
The Trump administration has proposed a rule that would deny housing assistance to families with even a single undocumented family member. Learn why we believe this rule is cruel, vindictive and unproductive—and why we firmly support the goal of providing stable, affordable housing for everyone in America.
After decades of progress improving children’s health coverage, nearly a million children lost their Medicaid or CHIP coverage in 2018. Together Medicaid and CHIP provide nearly 46 million children coverage for doctor’s visits, medications, dental care, glasses, immunizations, and more – all things children need to be in school and ready to learn. So this slide backwards is especially concerning at a time when the United States is facing numerous public health crises, including the largest measles outbreak in decades. Share this fact sheet on how vaccines work, why they’re safe and effective and how they protect our children from illness or even death.
Nearly 1 in 5 children live in poverty in this country, often facing hunger, untreated illness and even homelessness. But the United States can eliminate the terrible cost of child poverty if we choose to fight it rather than ignore it. Send a letter to your Senator and Representatives telling them that we must invest in proven policy improvements to lift 5.5 million children out of poverty now.
Comprehensive gun violence prevention measures are long overdue. The House of Representatives has successfully passed several bills to keep guns out of the hands of those who’d use them to harm our children and communities, but the Senate has refused to even bring these measures to a vote and give our children a chance to grow up safely. Demand that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and U.S. Senators vote immediately on this life-saving legislation to protect children, not guns.
Employment discrimination hurts children. Unemployment and unstable employment are key drivers of child poverty, and child poverty hurts children’s health, development and ability to learn. Learn why we’re proud to stand with organizations who are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of LGBTQ employees who have confronted workplace discrimination.
Children are being harmed by policies of family separation at our border and across our nation. Learn why we strongly condemn the many policies, rules, and practices–including worksite raids –perpetuated by this administration that devastate communities, tear apart families, and leave children with nowhere to turn.
Want to make sure every child has a chance to succeed? Make a gift to the Children’s Defense Fund today to improve the odds for all children in America.