We believe that the long-term impact of COVID-19 and the outcomes of future pandemics will be catastrophic if we do not provide robust investments through annual appropriations. Therefore, we urge Congress to commit to improving the lives of Americans by significantly boosting the allocation for the Labor-HHS-Education bill for FY 2021 to support needed services for the American public.
This pandemic calls for the enactment of policies and sufficient funding to protect low- and moderate-income people from economic disaster and to meet the urgent needs of the most vulnerable people in our nation. We cannot predict all of the impacts that the coronavirus and the recession will have on the people in our nation for years to come. Given what we know now, we share the broad economic security priorities for future COVID-19 response legislation and actions.
CDF submitted comments urging OMB to meaningfully expand—not artificially shrink—poverty measures to include all children experiencing economic deprivation, not just those currently counted as poor and requesting that any modifications to poverty thresholds capture the full breadth of resources needed to support children's healthy development.
CDF joined over 50 organizations to encourage the USDA to issue additional nationwide waivers so that communities are able to better respond to the current crisis and children are able to access the meals they need.
The spread of COVID-19 has highlighted the health and economic consequences faced by working people when they lack access to paid sick days and paid family and medical leave. Our society is only as healthy as its most vulnerable members. Now more than ever, we must recognize that we all have a stake in ensuring that working people have access to paid sick and safe days and paid family and medical leave.
CDF was one of over 600 organizations calling for the House to address two major provisions of the proposed COVID-19 relief bill that would exclude millions of immigrant families, including U.S. citizen children. We cannot protect the nation from the Coronavirus and its economic impact if we deny health care and financial relief to a large segment of our communities.
CDF joined over 140 organizations in urging members of Congress to co-sponsor the Paid Sick Days for Public Health Emergencies and Personal and Family Care Act (S. 3415/H.R. 6150) and advocate for its swift passage. Our society is only as healthy as its most vulnerable members. We all have a stake in ensuring paid sick days for public health emergencies and for personal and family care.
Early childhood education programs are essential for the millions of children and families they serve, and are particularly crucial during emergency public health and economic crises. But their success is contingent upon receiving the robust investment they need to take necessary steps and precautions. We urge lawmakers to act swiftly to allocate substantial emergency flexible funding directly to the child care and early learning systems in this country.
A society must be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable—and most valuable—members: its children. The State of America’s Children 2020 makes it abundantly clear that by this measure, America is falling shamefully short.
CDF submitted comments on the proposed rule on HUD's implementation of the Fair Housing Act's Disparate Impact Standard. We urged HUD to immediately withdraw the proposed rule and instead advance housing policies that strengthen - not undermine - the disparate impact theory that allows for stable, safe and affordable housing for all.