Media Release Archives - Children's Defense Fund

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COVID-19 Response Perpetuates Inequities for Vulnerable Children & Families

CDF-CA Statement on COVID-19 For Immediate Release: March 14, 2020 Media Contact: Cadonna Dory, (323) 385-6342 COVID-19 Response Perpetuates Inequities for Vulnerable Children and Families In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Children’s Defense Fund-California (CDF-CA) releases the following statement: The COVID-19 pandemic is triggering a global emergency response that is shifting the daily lives of families across the nation and the world. While the incidence and risk of COVID-19 are lower for children, COVID-19 is adversely impacting their quality of life through school closures and their parents losing employment. Basic needs are at stake and we demand that officials pay attention to the needs of low-income, mixed-status, and Black, Brown and Indigenous families. “Despite what is being said, our children are not being spared from COVID-19. In fact, it is our most vulnerable -- poor Black, Brown and Indigenous children -- [...]

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CDF-CA 2020-21 Budget Proposal Statement

For Immediate Release: January 10, 2020 Contact: Cadonna Dory, (323) 385-6342 Governor Newsom’s Budget Proposal Makes Much-Needed Investments in Education, Health and Juvenile Justice, but More Needs to Be Done to End Child Poverty In response to Governor Newsom’s budget proposal released today, Children’s Defense Fund-California released the following: Children’s Defense Fund-California has long-focused on ensuring that all children have the opportunity to thrive. In order for that to happen, investments need to be directed toward those who need it the most. We are pleased with the governor’s continued investment in community schools, Medi-Cal and transforming the juvenile justice system. With that said, poverty is a significant underlying cause of the poor outcomes and challenges facing California’s children, particularly children of color, and this budget proposal does not fully address the economic inequities across the state. “CDF-CA appreciates the governor [...]

Media Release

New Report: U.S. Can Lift 5.5. Million Children Out of Poverty Right Now

America can immediately lift millions of children out of poverty and reduce child poverty by 57 percent by making modest investments in policies that work, according to a new report released today by the Children’s Defense Fund. Ending Child Poverty Now, the second edition of a groundbreaking report first released in 2015, details the devastating impacts of poverty on children and our nation. It outlines nine policy improvements that, enacted together, would benefit 95 percent of all poor children, lifting 5.5 million of them out of poverty entirely. In California, home to 1.6 million poor children, the child poverty rate was reduced by 65%.

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Coalition Encouraged by Governor’s Support and Expansion of CalEITC

The CalEITC Advocacy Coalition is pleased to see the Governor proposing support and continued expansion of the California's Earned Income Tax Credit to help working families. The California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC) provides much-needed assistance to working families and individuals who are struggling to make ends meet.

Media Release

New Poverty & Health Data: 1.6 Million Children in California Lived in Poverty in 2017

Children remain the poorest age group in California, with 1.6 million living in poverty in 2017, according to American Community Survey (ACS) data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Although the child poverty rate declined from 19.9 percent in 2016 to 18.1 percent in 2017, it is still unconscionable that nearly 1 in 5 children live with economic hardship in California – the world’s fifth-largest income and yet among the highest poverty rates of all states.

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Parents, Community Groups and LBUSD Reach Agreement to Increase Funding for High-Need Students

LONG BEACH - Parents and community groups have reached an agreement with the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) to provide improved services for low-income students, English language learners, and foster youth. The settlement agreement resolves administrative complaints filed in 2017 against LBUSD and the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) by Public Advocates, Inc. and pro bono counsel Morgan, Lewis & Bockius on behalf of complainants Marina Román Sanchez, Guadalupe Luna, Children’s Defense Fund-California, and Latinos In Action. The complaints have been pending on appeal before the California Department of Education. The complaint against LBUSD challenged the district’s spending plan under California’s Local Control Funding Formula law (LCFF) in its Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). The LCFF was adopted by the state in 2013 to support greater local control, meaningful community engagement and more equitable spending for all [...]

Media Release

2017 State of America’s Children® Release

Los Angeles–Children’s Defense Fund’s The State of America’s Children® 2017 details the immoral and preventable poverty, homelessness, hunger, health problems, poor education and violence plaguing children. The most recent data suggest: Child Population: The U.S. has 73.6 million children. Children of color, who are disproportionately poor, will be a majority of our children by 2020. In California, there are 9 million children and 74 percent are children of color. Child Poverty: Nearly 1 in 5 children are poor-more than 13.2 million. Nearly 70 percent of poor children are non-White. 8 percent of children live in extreme poverty. In California, one in 5 children - approx. 1.78 million - are poor. Children of color are disproportionately impacted: 30 percent of Black children and 27 percent of Latino children are poor. 8 percent of California children live in extreme poverty. Income and Wealth [...]

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Key Statistics and Resources Child Poverty in California Based on New U.S. Census Data

U.S. Census Bureau data released today reveal that 1.78 million California children (19.9%) lived in poverty in 2016. Children remain the poorest age group. Children of color continue to be disproportionately poor: 26.6% (1,236,452) of Latino children and 29.6% (142,588) of Black children were poor in 2016, compared to 9.6% (221,622) of White children. Nearly 1 in 12 California children (723,923) lived in deep poverty in 2016, putting them at severe risk of hunger, homelessness, and toxic stress. The Census Bureau's official poverty measure defines poverty as an annual income below $24,563 for an average family of four, or less than $2,047 a month or $ 67.30 a day. Deep poverty is half of that level. An alternative Census measure, the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), suggests that these figures substantially understate how many children face economic hardship in California due [...]

Media Release

Statement from Children’s Defense Fund–California on President Trump’s First Budget Proposal

In response to President Trump's budget proposal, Alison Buist, National Child Health Director for Children's Defense Fund–California, issued this statement: "The Trump budget recklessly turns its back on America's children, denying them basic supports that would enable them survive and thrive. It's hard to overstate the magnitude of harm the Trump budget would inflict on California children and families, especially the nearly 1 in 4 California children living in poverty. This budget slashes critical services including but not limited to health care, education, and SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) more deeply than any previous budget in modern times." Media Contact Cadonna Dory cdory@childrensdefense.org o: (213) 355-8790 // c: (323) 385-6342 ### Children's Defense Fund-California (CDF-CA) is a state office of the Children's Defense Fund, a national child advocacy organization that has worked [...]

Media Release

Statement from Children’s Defense Fund–California on the American Health Care Act Vote

In response to the passage of the American Health Care Act, Alison Buist, National Child Health Director for Children's Defense Fund–California, issued this statement: "Today, House Republican leaders bullied their way to a vote on a bill that will reverse half a century of progress in covering children and families while giving a massive tax cut to America's wealthiest individuals and corporations. By passing the American Health Care Act that destroys Medicaid's guarantee of health coverage for poor and disabled children, including more than half of all children in California, we will turn the clock back to the bad old days of insurance discrimination, debt, and even death. The American Health Care Act is a bad deal for kids and a bad deal for California." Media Contact Cadonna Dory cdory@childrensdefense.org o: (213) 355-8790 // c: (323) 385-6342 [...]

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