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Statements and Letters publication type

2021-07-16T08:44:46-05:00

  Response to OMB Request for Information to Advance Equity and Support for LGBTQ+ Children and Families in the Child Welfare System

With one in three foster youth identifying as LGBTQ+ and reporting abysmal treatment and outcomes, and LGBTQ+ families also facing inequitable barriers in child welfare services, we stand at a crisis point that requires urgent action by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

2021-07-12T14:10:11-05:00

  CDF Joins Civil Rights Response to Attacks on the Right of Students to Learn About Historical and Ongoing Racial Oppression in the United States

All students deserve access to an education that prepares them to succeed in college, career, and life and to fully exercise their social, political, and economic rights. Attempting to gag educators and whitewash the aspects of U.S. history that rightfully make people uncomfortable undermines that basic principle.

2021-06-08T14:58:40-05:00

  CDF Urges Congress to Pass a Robust Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) Bill and Ensure Equitable Access to Meals

Children and families need ongoing support and access to healthy, nutritious meals during the pandemic and beyond. We cannot revert back to strict, outdated, and inflexible standards that leave millions of children—disproportionately Black, Latinx, and Indigenous children—behind and vulnerable to hunger. To truly build back better and advance racial equity, we must fully and finally eliminate barriers to healthy food and success for all children. Congress can—and must—begin right now and advance a bold CNR bill.

2021-05-11T10:08:46-05:00

  The IRS Must Better Connect Families to Online Tools to Guarantee All Eligible Families Receive the 2021 Advance Child Tax Credit

The Automatic Benefit for Children (ABC) coalition writes with recommendations to better connect families who have not recently filed taxes with simple, easy, and straightforward online tools to guarantee that all eligible families receive the 2021 advance Child Tax Credit (CTC). In these times of extreme financial uncertainty, it is critical that people receive economic support as efficiently as possible.

2021-02-03T10:35:07-05:00

  CDF Urges Congress to Ensure Children and Their Families Are Stably Housing During the Pandemic and Beyond

COVID-19 has exacerbated the nation’s affordable housing crisis—the result of a long history of racist housing policy including chronic underinvestment—the burden of which falls disproportionately on Black and Latino children. The emergency relief passed in December—which provided $25 billion in emergency rental assistance and extended the federal eviction moratorium—was a critical short-term step to protect the millions of families with children who are behind on their rent, but more must be done to ensure that these families emerge from the pandemic free from back rent and the looming threat of eviction.

2021-02-02T15:11:55-05:00

  CDF Calls for Congress to Expand the Child Tax Credit in the Next COVID-19 Relief Package

Families need immediate support as they struggle with the costs of raising children in the midst of an ongoing pandemic and faltering economy. Ensuring that families have adequate support is especially important for the Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and immigrant communities who have been hit hardest by the current economic and health crises, and who have too often been excluded from support and services. We urge Congress to act without delay to strengthen and expand the Child Tax Credit, and ensure that all children in need are able to regularly and easily access the benefit.

2020-12-08T13:21:23-05:00

  84 Organizations Call for Congress to Pass Legislation to Improve Maternal Health

CDF joins the call for Congress to swiftly pass the bipartisan Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act (H.R. 4995) and the bipartisan Helping MOMS Act of 2020 (H.R. 4996) as soon as possible. Final passage of H.R. 4995 and H.R. 4996 is a critical and foundational next step in Congress’ work to address maternal mortality and improve maternal health.

2020-12-08T12:02:47-05:00

  CDF Urges HHS to Withdraw the SUNSET Proposed Rule

Regulations play an important role in implementing a wide range of HHS policies and programs serving children and families, including child care, substance use treatment, child welfare, food safety, and health care. CDF is very concerned that the proposed rule will disrupt the ability of the Department of Health and Human Services to efficiently administer critical programs and services for children and families and should be withdrawn immediately.

2020-11-19T09:41:53-05:00

  CDF Joins Over 200 Organizations Urging the New Administration to Cancel Federal Student Debt

236 organizations wrote to President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris urging them to boost the economy, tackle racial disparities, and provide much-needed stimulus to help all Americans weather the pandemic and the associated recession by using executive authority to cancel federal student debt on Day One of their administration.

2020-12-08T15:28:07-05:00

  CDF Urges Congress to Take Immediate Action to Address the Pandemic and Provide Support to All Families, Including Immigrants

Many of us have already urged the Senate to adopt specific policies, including reversal of the Trump administration’s public charge policy and inclusive provisions of the HEROES Act legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in May. Since then, while the Senate has failed to act, the COVID-19 death count has doubled, and millions of working families have lost the enhanced unemployment and other financial lifelines then in place. Congress must take immediate action to address the pandemic and to provide support to all individuals and families, including immigrant families.