Ian Leui, Jazmin de Luna, Manual Lopez, Samantha Galindo and Samarea Johnson were honored in December at our 28th annual CDF Beat the Odds® gala. They mingled with celebrities and enjoyed an evening where they were the center of attention, and their hard work – at school, home and in their community – was recognized. Now we are accepting applications for our next cohort of students to be a part of the CDF Beat the Odds family. Our online application portal is open through March 29. The program honors outstanding young people who demonstrate academic commitment, are involved in improving their community while overcoming adversity. Through a competitive review process, we will select five deserving high school freshmen from the greater Los Angeles area to receive academic support geared towards college enrollment and completion. In order to apply students must write a personal statement that describes their hardships and how they have overcome them and get a letter of recommendation from a teacher, counselor, casework or any other unrelated adult. Other requirements can be found online. Application deadline is March 29.
More Featured Updates
CDF Freedom Schools Spotlight: Roberts Family Development Center
If you are dedicated to our mission of caring for every child, we’d love to have you join our team. CDF-CA is hiring for two positions: director of legislative advocacy and coalition coordinator.
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%.
Big win for youth justice in LA County
Earlier this week, Los Angeles County’s Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council (JJCC) adopted a budget that makes a landmark reinvestment of nearly $7 million of funding from probation to community-based youth development supports.
Board Vote Gives Youth Advocates Power
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to give a group of youth experts and advocates the power to determine how tens of millions of dollars that are supposed to be used on young people gets spent
A Healthier Start to Life
In February, CDF-CA and others joined Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) at a press conference to announce the introduction of AB 875 to reestablish “Healthy Start.” Healthy Start
Take action to protect children, not guns!
A few weeks ago, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act (H.R.8) passed the House of Representatives to strengthen background checks and keep guns out of the hands of those who would use them to harm our children and communities.