It is past time for Congress to hear and heed our children's calls. Gun violence is not an inevitable or intractable problem. Congress can—and must—strengthen background checks, ban assault weapons, and pass other gun safety measures to ensure all children a chance to grow up free from violence and fear.
Read MorePlease join the Automatic Benefit for Children (ABC) Coalition, co-chaired by the Children’s Defense Fund and Center for the Study of Social Policy, on July 27th, from 2:00 to 3:15 p.m. ET for a webinar titled “Ensuring Families Receive the Child Tax Credit: Innovative Outreach Strategies and Removing Barriers for Families to Sign Up.”
Read MoreAs many as one in three children in foster care identify as LGBTQ+, and same-sex couples are seven times more likely to foster or adopt than their opposite-sex counterparts. Still, LGBTQ+ children and families, particularly LGBTQ+ children and families of color, disproportionately experience negative treatment in the child welfare system. CDF was proud submit comments detailing actions the administration could take to improve services for LGBTQ+ children and families in the child welfare system.
Read MoreThis crisis must be treated with urgency and as a matter of racial and economic justice. President Biden and Congress can and must respond by making the Child Tax Credit permanent with critical improvements so that Black, Latinx, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Indigenous, and immigrant children — who are too often excluded from support services — can receive the benefit. If we are truly committed to racial justice and systemic equality, the choice is clear.
Read MoreToday, the first round of Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments—up to $300 per child—are hitting the bank accounts of millions of families across the country. Thanks to the expansion of the CTC included in the American Rescue Plan passed in March by the House and Senate Democrats and signed by President Biden, all but the highest-income families will receive monthly payments for the rest of 2021.
Read MoreRepresentation matters. Black professionals are underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields, while exciting opportunities in STEM careers continue to grow at a frantic pace. Thanks to a generous grant from the Boeing Company, the CDF Freedom Schools® program is doing its part to help produce the next generation of leaders in STEM by introducing Black children to the wide world of possibilities in STEM careers through a new initiative called CDF Freedom to STEM.
Read MoreRooted in our history in the civil rights movement, CDF will continue to fight to ensure that fifty years from now, we can celebrate a 2021 civic redemption, built and led by young leaders who are standing up to finally fulfill the promise of the 26th Amendment.
Read MoreFederal rental assistance is a set of several programs—mostly administered through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Agriculture with support from tax credits—that help families with little or no income cover their housing costs. Our new fact sheet provides a useful primer on federal rental assistance.
Read MoreBy increasing resources to prevent and respond to toxic stress and trauma, the RISE from Trauma Act is an important step in aligning our policies to promote child well-being and ensure that children are able to thrive in their communities.
Read MoreWhile this decision did not undermine the right of state and local governments to protect children and families from taxpayer-funded discrimination, it does underscore how tenuous these protections can be. The decision is a potent reminder of how crucial it is that we pass the John Lewis Every Child Deserves a Family Act (S.1848/ H.R. 3488) to ensure that all children and youth in the child welfare system are safe from discrimination, no matter where they live or who they love.
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