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All Pull Together

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The second in a recurring column from GRACE & ECPCA’s President & CEO, Shimica Gaskins

August 5, 2024

When I first encounter the long, hot days of summer, I’m reminded of my time at Children’s Defense Fund-California, where I had the privilege of supporting CDF Freedom Schools sites across the state. CDF Freedom Schools gather energetic children, motivated student leader interns, and committed site supervisors and staff for six weeks of programming each summer–reaching thousands of children across the U.S. With a rich history grounded in the spirit of 1964’s Freedom Summer, Freedom Schools support children’s educational attainment and teach them about what it means to be civically engaged. Held in places of worship, schools, and at community-based organizations, participants experience joy and laughter among their peers, are immersed in a culturally reflective curriculum, and learn about social justice and how they can have an impact on the world.

Each day begins with a foundational part of the program, a coming together called “harambee.” From the Swahili for “all pull together,” harambee instills in these young people the idea that we create positive change–and that the way we do that is with each other. 

I’m reminded of this spirit looking back at our recent state budget battle and the funding we secured for hardworking Californians. In a shift from the surpluses of the last few years, this year lawmakers were faced with tough choices in balancing the budget. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, the safety of families with low incomes and other vulnerable community members was threatened in this process, as budget plans would have pushed more Californians into hunger and poverty by stripping vital support away from parents and children, foster youth, seniors, and people with disabilities. Deeply troubling, these cuts would have disproportionately impacted Black and Brown communities and immigrants.

But faced with that possibility, what did we do together? First, we reminded our leaders about our values. That every person is worthy of dignity and respect. That everyone’s basic needs are worth fighting for. And that we have a duty to prioritize giving the next generation what they need to succeed. Second, we showed up in beautiful ways. Our coalition brought legislators more than 700 emails written by families explaining what programs and benefits mean to them. We assembled at the capital for hearings, lobby days, and office visits, sharing the direct impact of government decisions on our communities. We also rallied with hundreds of our neighbors, illuminating the power of a people-driven, diverse coalition.

In the end, the final budget agreement reflected a commitment to prioritize proven anti-poverty programs and rejected the failed austerity measures that have been relied on in the past. We have more work to do, but it is a remarkable step to preserve vital programs in the current budget climate.

As we take a little time to enjoy the summer with friends and family, I hope you’ll pause to reflect on the difference we’ve made. It’s evidence that advocacy works, of the power of a unified message, and of the relentless spirit needed to fight for community needs. This wasn’t our first fight, and it certainly won’t be our last. But I feel more equipped for the next one seeing the strength of our collective efforts.

Like I so often heard the kids in Freedom Schools proclaim, “I can make a difference in myself, my family, my community, my state, my country, my world.” Last month we did just that, and we accomplished it because we all pulled together.

What Does California Value?

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The first in a planned monthly column from GRACE & ECPCA’s President & CEO, Shimica Gaskins

June 7, 2024

During tough times, families have choices to make. Two big questions loom: where might we cut back, and what can we do to get more income? Importantly, they ask those questions through the lens of what they value.

In the midst of California’s budget season, the way the state raises and spends money naturally draws comparisons to household budgets and the choices families face. Unfortunately, how those questions are answered in our state budget don’t always reflect our highest values.

For families, the “values” lens that always rises to the top is about the next generation. Any necessary belt-tightening avoids cutting off opportunities for their children. They know that all their hard work doesn’t mean much if their kids don’t have what they need. So they prioritize, for them.

Initial plans to address the state’s budget shortfalls missed the mark in a values-forward approach. In fact, the Governor’s recent plan would push more Californians into hunger and poverty by stripping vital supports away from families, foster youth, fragile seniors, and people with disabilities. Deeply troubling, these cuts would disproportionately impact Black and Brown communities and immigrants.

The successes of these programs are what Joy Perrin, a California mom of two precious kids, wrote about in the Sacramento Bee last month. She shared how the CalWORKs Family Stabilization Program—a program that’s been on the chopping block—was the key support that led to getting housed, attaining her degree, and providing for her family. Her story reminds us that it’s reckless to try to solve a short-term budget problem by abandoning families in situations it will take a generation to climb out of.

For months, the End Child Poverty California Coalition has been imploring the administration and legislature to lead with California’s values. We have pushed for alternatives to cutting programs that are life sustaining for our most vulnerable children and families. The problem with only trying to cut your way out of budget issues is that cuts leave wounds with lasting and devastating impacts.

But what we choose to spend money on is only one of the key questions. The stubborn refusal to address revenue is simply not an option that struggling families have, so why should the government? With the 5th largest economy in the world that’s still benefiting wealthy corporations and the top sliver of our state, it’s foolhardy and shameful to not even ask how we enlarge the pie, rather than just cutting out chunks of it.

This past week the California Legislature unveiled its proposal, which thankfully prevents the deepest cuts while raising some new revenue. It’s a strong foundation, but still misses opportunities for bolder reforms to advance a more equitable California that lifts all children and families out of poverty.

We were in Sacramento over the past few weeks with hundreds of impacted community members and workers, and armed with emails from 765 parents experiencing poverty telling their stories—not just about the real choices they face, but also how critical programs make all the difference to their families. These Californians uniquely understand tough choices, but they also know how to hold tight to what they value—their kids and their futures—and are willing to do what it takes to set them up for success. GRACE and our coalition partners will continue to remind our elected officials to follow their lead.

GRACE & End Child Poverty California Oppose Debt Ceiling Agreement That Cuts Critical Cash and Food Aid

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Expanding the SNAP time limit and deepening punitive TANF rules will worsen poverty and hunger

PASADENA, CA // May 31, 2023

The proposed debt ceiling agreement comes at the expense of Californians with the lowest incomes, furthering narratives rooted in racist and sexist stereotypes that stigmatize families experiencing poverty, and perpetuating structural racism by undermining true economic mobility. Expanding cruel, failed barriers and making cuts in TANF, SNAP, and other programs will mean greater hunger and poverty from children to older adults. This is simply unacceptable, especially as we have the tools, including more equitable revenues, to avoid a default.

On TANF (CalWORKs), the agreement defies decades of research that federal policymakers should replace the restrictive, punitive TANF model with a program that empowers families to choose the activities they need to support economic mobility.

Instead, the bill worsens work requirements we know don’t improve employment or income – but are effective at taking away family’s basic income. CalWORKs sanctions already push 60,000 California children – overwhelmingly Black, Latinx, and other communities of color – deeper into poverty, destabilizing families to the point where children are removed and placed into child welfare. The agreement will subject even more families to the narrow, punitive rules that result in life-long consequences for children experiencing poverty.

The agreement also has an historic expansion of the cruel 3-month time SNAP limit, threatening food assistance for older adults who are the most likely to face age discrimination in the labor market or have an undiagnosed disability that takes years for Social Security to determine.

This is the opposite of the policy direction we should pursue: instead of determining who deserves to eat, we should stand firm that food is a human right and should not have a time limit, period. The Congress should pass Rep. Barbara Lee’s H.R. 1510 that would end the time limit for good, and Rep. Jimmy Gomez’s H.R. 3183 that would end the unjust college student rule.

In both TANF and SNAP, the debate was completely divorced from the reality of the brutal conditions of poverty in America, and perpetuated racist and sexist ideas that people living in poverty must be coerced to work.

We will have to turn to our Legislature and Administration, at nearly the end of our budget process, to try and mitigate the harm from these policies. That may or may not be possible, but all of which takes time and resources away from conversations about moving forward to evidence-based models that we must empower families to determine their finding pathways to true economic security outside of the failed, punitive model embodied in work requirements.

The agreement comes during divided government and surely represents important improvements to the House-passed bill. But we must be clear-eyed about the damage this does to our proven anti-poverty programs and the message to the children and families who rely on them. We must never again allow the poorest among us to be held hostage.

GRACE & End Child Poverty CA Statements – April 26, 2023

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Celebrating the CA Senate Budget Plan and Denouncing U.S. House Debt Ceiling Bill

GRACE & End Child Poverty California Celebrate Senate Budget Plan

Urge Adoption of Revenues & Investments Needed for a More Equitable California

April 26, 2023 / / Pasadena, CA

Statement attributable to Shimica Gaskins, President & CEO, GRACE/End Child Poverty California: 

“We at GRACE dare to dream of a future in which every child is valued and free, and the Senate Budget Plan released today by Pro Tem Atkins and Budget Chair Skinner would make enormous progress in achieving that goal. We applaud the Senate for embracing a comprehensive approach that would move California forward together toward a more equitable future through a combination of revenues to ensure that wealthy corporations pay their fair share, and investments in programs proven to lift children and families out of poverty and reverse long-standing racial inequities. 

We are thrilled that the Senate Budget Plan would adopt many community-informed IMAGINE priorities, including critical investments to: 

  • CalWORKS: End deep child poverty, remove the WPR penalty, support sanction reform, invest in menstrual equity
  • Increase the minimum CalEITC payment to $275
  • Child care: invest in rates to help stabilize providers and protect families from harmful fees
  • CalFresh: provide a $50 minimum, prevent the 3-month time limit, and achieve Food For All
  • School meals: maximize the new Summer EBT program and support kitchen infrastructure 
  • Homelessness prevention and affordable housing – landmark $1 billion ongoing
  • Support schools, bolster health programs, and much more. 

We again thank the Senate for their continued leadership to put wealth to work and ensure that the values of California’s budget, both revenues and investments, prioritize the future free from poverty we know is possible. We urge the Legislature and Administration to adopt these critical proposals in the 2023-24 Budget, and look forward to engaging with all stakeholders as the budget process continues.”

GRACE & End Child Poverty California Statement on House Debt Ceiling Bill

House bill would worsen poverty for children and families and deepen racial inequities. Urge Senate and President to reject this approach, and invest in programs proven to lift children and families out of poverty.

April 26, 2023 / / Pasadena, CA

Statement attributable to Shimica Gaskins, President and CEO, GRACE/End Child Poverty California:

“The House bill passed today includes unconscionable policies that balance the budget on the backs of the very Califfornians with low-incomes that the federal government should prioritize. It is a shocking, anti-family bill that would reverse the historic gains in reducing child poverty – achieved just two years ago – and deepen already unjust inequities for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and other disenfranchised communities.

The bill would make across the board 22% cuts that harm children and families, and cap annual spending growth at 1% for key domestic federal programs such as WIC, housing, veterans’ health care, child care and preschool, public health, Pell Grants and college work-study, K-12 education, and environmental protection, among many others. 

Perhaps the most odious element is that the bill doubles down on punitive, failed work requirements across the safety net, policies rooted in racist & sexist stereotypes that families with low-incomes need to be coerced to work in order to receive basic assistance: 

We thank the many Members of the California delegation who spoke out against and opposed this legislation. We thank President Biden for issuing his veto message on the bill, which highlights many of the harmful policies that would punish Californians with low-incomes. We urge the Senate and President to reject this approach, and instead build on the proven pathways to lift children and families out of poverty and advance a more equitable future.”

GRACE Welcomes Sam to Start 2023! Plus, a Look Back at 2022.

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The GRACE Team Now Numbers 6!

We’re excited to welcome our newest senior policy associate, Sam Wilkinson, to not just our internal team but the larger GRACE & End Child Poverty CA community!

Sam will work closely with the CalEITC Coalition to drive policy efforts and advocacy campaigns that will uplift the important and effective role tax credits and other cash supports play supporting our families.

Read more about Sam on our About Us page.

2022: A Year in Review

“Service without reflection is just work.”

When our team retreated in January of 2022, we talked about vision and values. Part of that discussion was learning more about the history of GRACE and our Vincentian roots, including values like dignity, compassion, solidarity, and justice.

We also talked about reflection. Our workload keeps us busy, but we all believe strongly in creating pauses, moments of rest, and time to reflect on our work: celebrating wins, big or small; learning from our experiences, good or bad; and finding ways to improve and better serve our communities.

Our 2022 Year in Review is a short publication created in reflection on the past year and highlighting what our team was able to accomplish. We are very proud to share it with you now!

GRACE-2022-Year-in-ReviewDownload

January 25: Lifting Children & Families Out of Poverty Member Briefing

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Connect with legislators and legislative staff, partners and advocates, and community members at one of our first events of 2023!

  • Who: Co-hosted by ECPCA & EPIC
    • Speakers include: Sen. Skinner, Dolores Huerta Foundation, + more!
  • What: Lifting Children & Families Out of Poverty Member Briefing
  • When: Wednesday, January 25  |  12:00-1:30 pm PST
  • Where: 1021 O Street, Room 1200 | Sacramento, CA
    • No live stream, a recording will be available after the event
  • RSVP: Via Eventbrite
  • How about legislative visits? This is a perfect opportunity to check in with representatives and staff! We’re asking partners to schedule visits around the 12-1:30 pm briefing time. 
  • Support us: Spread the word by sharing the invite, the Eventbrite link, and/or one of our social posts with your networks!
  • Questions? Contact Andrew Cheyne
Rectangle with three rows of colors: grey brown, light blue, and dark blue and a yellow border. Dandelion images in the background. Top left corner says IMAGINE and top right corner has the EPIC and ECPCA logos. Text reads: Member Briefing: Lifting Children & Families Out of Poverty. Join Sen. Nancy Skinner, Dolores Huerta Foundation, people with lived expertise, and advocates for a briefing on 2023 policy priorities to lift children and families out of poverty. Bottom includes details on the event (included in text).

RELEASE: End Child Poverty California Statement on Governor Newsom’s Proposed 2023-24 Budget

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We Commend the Governor for Protecting Progress, and Call For Continued Action to End Poverty

January 10, 2023 / / Pasadena, CA

Statement attributable to Shimica Gaskins, President and CEO of GRACE and End Child Poverty California:

Today, Governor Newsom released his 2023-24 Proposed Budget Summary. We commend Governor Newsom for his clear call to prioritize Californians on the front lines of economic hardship, a theme he echoed throughout his press conference, including protecting vital programs proven to prevent poverty and build prosperity. 

We further applaud the Governor for some of the key decisions made to balance the state’s budget given the fiscal conditions. This includes the prudent choice to withdraw the $750 million payment on the state’s outstanding federal loans for unemployment benefits, which the LAO noted would “provide no near-term economic relief to employers or workers.”

We urge the Governor and Legislature to build on this strong first step to take actions needed to address the moral imperative to lift every California child and family out of poverty. As Langston Hughes reminds us, a dream deferred is a dream denied. 

We must act now to make sure all our children are valued, healthy, secure, and free from poverty.  

The Governor wisely proposes increased support for families experiencing homelessness, to help keep families housed, as well as nation-leading health for all, in this year’s budget. He offers new proposals such as the Health and Human Services Innovation Accelerator Initiative, that if includes CalWORKs and CalFresh, could make bold improvements to access of critical safety net programs.

Those investments build on transformative actions taken during the pandemic including baby bonds, health care, tax credits for families, cradle to career supports, and other End Child Poverty Plan recommendations. 

It is not an overstatement that those gains, and the lives of California’s children living in extreme poverty, are at risk. They are struggling to survive as their families face the toxic stress of inflation, food insecurity, homelessness and other challenges as key federal interventions like the expiration of the expanded Child Tax Credit that brought poverty to historic lows and closed racial inequities.

While we continue to call on Congress and the White House to take continued action, California must continue to lead. Budgets are statements of our values, especially in a challenging year. 

We again commend the Governor for protecting critical progress made, and call on all budget stakeholders to maximize opportunities to advance the future free from poverty we know is possible. GRACE and End Child Poverty California look forward to working with the Governor, Administration, and Legislature to ensure that investments to end poverty are prioritized – our children and families simply cannot wait.

For a summary of California’s latest investment in supporting our low-income children and families, read our recap of the 2022-23 legislative session and ECPCA priorities below.

CA-Legislature-Imagine-Investments-2022Download

RELEASE: Western Regional Anti-Hunger Joint Statement Opposing SNAP Cut Offset in the 2023 Federal Omnibus

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December 20, 2022

Our organizations are members of the Western Regional Anti-Hunger Consortium (WRAHC), a coalition of anti-hunger groups across the Western United States. We write with deep appreciation by leaders in Congress to secure badly needed investments in programs that prevent hunger in the end of year omnibus spending bill. This includes some of the first improvements to child nutrition programs in over ten years. We cannot, however, support an offset to create a Summer EBT program by cutting SNAP benefits, and urge Congress not to consider any sources that are dedicated to existing anti-poverty programs.

The pandemic proved unequivocally that hunger and poverty are a policy choice, and that government can solve these crises when it acts. In 2021, child poverty fell to a record low of 5.2%, and food insecurity for households with children fell to a two-decade low.1 Expanded federal response to the pandemic-induced economic crisis, including Emergency Allotments provided through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and temporarily available nationwide school meals for all, made key contributions to that success.2

The West has long led the way in identifying the need for3 and championing4,5 the effort to create a permanent, nation-wide Summer EBT program that would provide a grocery card to children in low-income families during the summer, the hungriest months for children. It has been shown as one of the most effective interventions to fight child hunger.6

As much as we support Summer EBT, we cannot support the offset to cut SNAP by prematurely ending the Emergency Allotments, which will on average mean a loss of $82 per person a month.7 This is consistent with our position against the 2010 Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act that funded improved school meal nutrition standards by prematurely sunsetting the SNAP boost from the ARRA. This created a major hunger cliff,8 which contributed to the decade long period of elevated hunger and poverty.9

These programs are extremely valuable on their own merits and should not be pitted against one another. SNAP is the first and best line of defense against hunger for these children and their families. And for many children in low-income families, meals offered through child nutrition programs in and out of school provide invaluable nutrition assistance. Taking money from one nutrition program that benefits low-income children and families to pay for another does little to alleviate the struggle with hunger these families are experiencing especially in these times when food prices have increased 13% over the last year.10

Additionally, reducing SNAP benefits now will be more harmful for our economy which stands on the brink of recession. Research shows that in a slowing economy, every $1 of SNAP spent generates between $1.50 to $1.80 in economic activity or contributes $1.54 billion to our GDP.11 Ending the Emergency Allotments means less spending in local food economies, the loss of jobs, and most importantly, less food on the family dinner table.

We urge Congress to pass an omnibus that includes comprehensive child nutrition reauthorization including long overdue improvements to the Community Eligibility Provision as well as establish nationwide permanent Summer EBT before the end of the 117th Congress, without cuts to SNAP or any other antipoverty programs as an offset. We believe this is the best way to ensure that all children have access to healthy meals through SNAP and child nutrition programs.

Sincerely,

Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition

California Association of Food Banks

Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations

Equal Rights Advocates

Food Bank of Northern Nevada

GRACE & End Child Poverty CA

Hunger Free Colorado

Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force

Northwest Harvest

Nourish California

Oregon Food Bank

Partners for a Hunger Free Oregon

Western Center on Law and Poverty

1 https://www.cbpp.org/blog/food-insecurity-at-a-two-decade-low-for-households-with-kids-signaling-successful-relief

2 https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/09/record-drop-in-child-poverty.html

3 https://voiceofsandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Summer+Meals+Report_April+2014_SDHC.pdf

4 https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3519

5 https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1831

6 https://www.fns.usda.gov/sfsp/summer-electronic-benefit-transfer-children-sebtc-demonstration-summary-report

7 https://www.fns.usda.gov/tfp/blog-083021

8 http://foodbanknyc.org/wp-content/uploads/HungerCliff_ResearchBrief.pdf

9 https://rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/Impact-COVID19-Californias-Emergency-Food-System-Maxde-Faria-CAFB.pdf

10 https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/prices-for-food-at-home-up-13-5-percent-for-year-ended-august-2022.htm

11 https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/93529/err-265.pdf

Omnibus_NoSNAPCuts_SEBT_WRAHC_12.20.2022Download

RELEASE: End Child Poverty California Coalition Statement of Principles on the Special Legislative Session

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PASADENA, CA | November 29, 2022

We applaud Governor Newsom and Legislative leaders for calling to meet in a special session focused on reclaiming a portion of the record windfall profits that oil companies have taken by gouging Californians. 

A majority of low-income California families – disproportionately Black, Latinx, and other Californians of color struggle to meet their basic needs. An astonishing 1 in 3 of all California adults reported cutting back on food, with nearly as many avoiding health care, putting in stark terms the urgency needed for state policymakers to continue to act. 

The good news is that COVID has shown that government is effective when it invests in programs proven to fight poverty and drive shared prosperity. Statewide, our safety net programs – collectively – cut poverty by a remarkable 10.3% and narrowed long-standing racial disparities. 

These results were possible because of combined federal and state leadership, and we continue our call on Congress to expand the Child Tax Credit and invest in Child Nutrition and other programs proven to reduce poverty. 

California must also continue to lead. In order to do so, state budget stakeholders must acknowledge that gouging at the pump affects all of us – that profiteering ripples throughout our economy, raising the price of food and other basic necessities. And, the high cost of gas disproportionately hurts those with low-incomes, regardless of whether they own a car. 

As a result, any relief should recognize that shared hardship, and not be exclusively for those who are able to afford cars and pay the price of gas. State budget stakeholders must prioritize revenues for Californians with the lowest incomes, who have the greatest need, to continue addressing record inequality.

We again thank Governor Newsom and the Legislature for proactively seeking new ways to continue supporting Californians. Government action during the pandemic demonstrated with great success that poverty is a policy choice, and we need only the political will to act. We encourage budget stakeholders to look at all opportunities to ensure that wealthy corporations are paying their fair share and we look forward to working together to develop new revenues that will help the state meet its goals for a more equitable future. 

Members of Executive Steering Committee  

CAPPA | California Alternative Payment Program Association  

California Association of Food Banks  

California Budget & Policy Center

California Immigrant Policy Center  

California Interfaith Coalition/Friends Committee on Legislation  

Child Care Resource Center  

Children Now 

Children’s Defense Fund California  

Dolores Huerta Foundation  

Economic Security Project  

End Poverty in California  

First 5 California 

Marin Promise Partnership Marin County  

MEDA | Mission Economic Development Agency  

National CORE/HOPE Through HOUSING Foundation  

National Foster Youth Institute  

Saint John’s Well Child and Family Center  

South Bay Community Services  

The Children’s Partnership 

United Ways of California  

Western Center on Law and Poverty 

For a full list of all our partners please visit our website: https://www.endchildpovertyca.org

This release can also be read on EIN Presswire.  

GRACE @ White House Conference on Hunger, Health, and Nutrition

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Last week our policy associate Yesenia Jimenez was in Washington DC at the White House Conference on Hunger and Health. The next weekend she was back in LA celebrating her birthday with family. Just a few days before her birthday, Yesenia sat two rows away from the President of the United States.

What. A. Week.

#WHConfHungerHealth brought together people from the advocacy, business, political, and influencer communities. Everyone shared the goals of ending hunger and improving the health of Americans.

Many policies that have gotten us to where we are today, with so much poverty and hunger in our country, are driven by racism, sexism, and classism. There has been value in keeping people just barely surviving instead of thriving with more than their basic needs met. For example, our agricultural workers who grow and pick the food that arrives on the most elite tables in America, were intentionally left out of the fair labor laws of the 1930s because of racism. Inequality in labor practices still persists almost 100 years later, making it hard for the people who grow our food to afford food themselves. Let alone high quality food that truly nourishes.

Yesenia (left) with CA Senator Melissa Hurtado & Jess Bartholow, CA Senator Skinner’s Chief of Staff.

We’re so grateful we had Yesenia at the White House to represent End Child Poverty CA and California. CA was mentioned as a model for so many successful programs.

There is a huge groundswell of momentum for programs that WORK to end poverty and hunger: the Child Tax Credit and universal school meals. Champions in Congress are moved to fight for these tools that support our families’ basic rights.

We imagine a future where all of our children are valued and free. Where their families are secure and nourished. Where we live in abundance, rather than scarcity.

Onward! 

#EndChildPoverty

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