Statements and Letters publication type
We thank you for your continued support of afterschool and summer learning programs, and for your work on behalf of children and working families. We ask that the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittees ensure that the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program remains a vital resource to students and families moving forward.
In order to support a safe and healthy school environment and make sure our students receive a well-rounded education that puts them on a path to success, we must continue to invest in our nation’s schools, educators, and most importantly, our students. For these reasons, we urge Congress to fund the SSAE flexible grant program at $2 billion in FY 2023. Thank you for your 1 of 4 consideration of this request. We look forward to working with you to make sure students in every community are supported to reach their maximum potential.
As an organization rooted in the civil rights and children’s rights movements, we strongly support Jackson’s nomination and believe that, based on her qualifications, diverse experience, and strong judicial record, she will vigorously protect the rights our children and families have fought tirelessly for and, as a past public defender, bring a unique perspective that is needed to the bench. Her historic and long overdue nomination as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court will have ripple effects for Black women, youth, and girls around the nation.
CDF and members of the Automatic Benefit for Children (ABC) coalition recommend that the IRS continue to allow families to file taxes using a simplified filing tool to receive the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and other critical benefits. This tool should be available at the beginning of 2022 and on an ongoing basis. A permanent, simplified filing process is a critical component of a comprehensive strategy to ensure that all eligible families access the CTC, and it reaches the families who need it the most.
CDF joined other leading child advocacy organizations to call on Congress to further extend USDA’s nationwide waiver authority to September 30, 2022 to give USDA the flexibility needed to respond to the pandemic as well as its aftermath, and to ensure that the federal child nutrition programs continue to operate and provide healthy snacks and meals to students.
We urge Congress to protect the size and scope of the package and the critical investments that will reduce food insecurity, poverty, and racial disparities and improve nutrition in this country.
USDA's authority to provide a nationwide waiver, even if it increases program costs, is set to expire on September 30, 2021. We, the undersigned organizations, ask Congress to extend USDA’s nationwide waiver authority to September 30, 2022 to ensure they have the flexibility needed to respond to the pandemic and ensure that the federal child nutrition programs continue to operate and provide healthy snacks and meals to the students who need them.
Exempting QRTPs from the IMD exclusion would undermine the goals of Family First, weakening the standards of quality and leading more children to be placed in large-scale institutions, rather than promoting placements with family, as the law intends.