RELEASE: END CHILD POVERTY CA MOVEMENT URGES FEDERAL STIMULUS LEGISLATION TO INCLUDE 22 ‘PRIORITIES TO STRENGTHEN FAMILIES’

APRIL 10, 2020  — In a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Sen. Kamala Harris and the California Congressional delegation, End Child Poverty CA’s co-chairs Dolores Huerta and Conway Collis, on behalf of a coalition of 66 organizations, urged the inclusion of 22 “Priorities to Strengthen Families” in future federal stimulus legislation.

The priorities target those in poverty and those left out of or ineligible for the CARES Act. The Priorities also suggest practical changes –for example, waiving work or minimum income requirements at a time when the economy is shedding jobs at record level.

“The attached Priorities to Strengthen Families were developed from our years of work, the experiences of our partners, and the expertise of some of the nation’s preeminent researchers on poverty. Taken together, these Priorities provide a foundation to help low income people recover from the pandemic and contribute to the nation’s overall economic recovery,” the letter states. “Each recommendation is based on a program or service that has been proven to be successful and cost-effective — rigorous data and other analysis has been applied.  The 22 recommendations address the need to provide housing and food stability for vulnerable children; necessary healthcare to protect all Americans; child-care for our essential workers; essential support for our nation’s foster youth; and basic education, workforce and housing support.”

See full letter, followed by the 22 Priorities to Strengthen Families, here.

Organizations signing the letter:

To add your organization (click here). Although the original letter has been sent, we look forward to adding additional names and organizations online.

Alameda County Community Food Bank
Alliance for Boys and Men of Color
Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker Family Foundation
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles
Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative
Burrito Bunch
CA Association for the Education of Young Children (CAAEYC) Public Policy Committee
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
California Alternative Payment Program Association (CAPPA)
California Asset Building Coalition
California Association for the Education of Young Children (CAAEYC)
California Association of Food Banks
California Coalition for Youth
California Latinas for Reproductive Justice
California Partnership
CAPPA Children’s Foundation
CAP OC/OC Food Bank
Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County
Child Care Alliance of Los Angeles
Child Care Law Center
Child Care Resource and Referral Center CA
Child Care Resource Center
Children Now
Children’s Council of San Francisco
Children’s Defense Fund – CA
Children’s Institute
Children’s Resource & Referral
Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice
Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County
Compass Family Services
County Welfare Directors Association of CA
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul USA
Dolores Huerta Foundation
Economic Security Project Action
Equal Rights Advocates
Fathers & Families of San Joaquin
First 5 Alameda County
First 5 California
First 5 LA
Foster Care Counts
Fresno Barrios Unidos
Fresno EOC
Fresno EOC Street Saints
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
Futures Without Violence
Gardner Health Services
GRACE Institute/End Child Poverty California
Hayward Promise Neighborhoods
Head Start California
Healing Dialogue and Action
Hunger Action LA
Independent in Orange County
Jewish Center for Justice
Jewish Family and Children’s Services of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties
John Burton Advocates for Youth
LA Conservation Corps
Latino Business Foundation Silicon Valley
Legal Aid at Work
Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN)
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank
LULAC California
Lutheran Office of Public Policy California
Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center
Maryvale
Mid City CAN (Community Advocacy Network)
Mission Economic Development Agency
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
National Foster Youth Institute
North Bay Jobs with Justice
Para Los Niños
Parent Voices CA
Restaurant Opportunities Center The Bay
Rise Together
San Diego for Every Child
San Francisco Latino Democratic Club
Save the Children
SHIELDS for Families
South Bay Community Services
Southern California Grantmakers
St. John’s Well Child & Family Center
Stable, Secure and Strong
The Central Valley Urban Institute
The Chicano Federation
The Children’s Movement of Fresno
The Children’s Partnership
The Salvador E. Alvarez Institute for Non-Violence
Time for Change Foundation
Unite LA
United Ways of California
Urban Strategies Council
Western Center on Law and Poverty
YMCA of San Diego County
Youth Justice Coalition L.A.
Youth United for Community Action
Youth Will

Previously, End Child Poverty CA developed recommendations to shape state stimulus legislation. See the letter to Governor Newsom here.

ABOUT END CHILD POVERTY CA

On both a percentage and numerical basis, California’s child poverty crisis ranks as the worst in America. Almost 2 million California children live in poverty, with 400,000 of them in deep poverty –below 50 percent of the state poverty line and growing up in families working hard to survive on less than about $13,400 annually. State legislation created the Lifting Children and Families Out of Poverty Task Force (Co-Chaired by Collis) to develop an anti-poverty plan to be released just before the new governor and legislature took office in January 2019. The End Child Poverty CA campaign then rallied people and organizations and as a movement urged the state to adopt the Task Force’s End Child Poverty Plan, which would end deep child poverty in just four years when fully implemented. The plan would also reduce overall child poverty by 50 percent over the next decade.
 For more information, visit: https://www.endchildpovertyca.org/