WHAT: Local advocates and officials will describe the harmful impact of the Trump Administration’s proposed public charge regulation effectively limiting immigration based on income.
WHEN: Tuesday, September 25, 2018, 11 a.m.
In our Learn, Love, Lead! email series, we show what we can do together to protect and support Washington's children from new federal threats. Each week, we provide a resource you can learn from and share, or an action you can take to be the leader kids are counting on.
We recently gathered our thoughts about what works to persuade lawmakers to act in kids’ interests over the course of special session. Now that the Legislature has begun its special session to complete its work on the two-year budget, we share these three tips in the hopes that they can help us all be more effective advocates for kids.
The Senate proposed budget won’t work for Washington’s kids.
This budget proposal falls short of what children in Washington need to be successful in school and in life.
It puts the brakes on our steady progress to ensure that Washington kids enter kindergarten ready to learn.
The Children’s Alliance creates our annual Legislative Agenda with the aid of a racial equity policy analysis, so that our efforts address disparities facing children and families in communities of color.
Early Learning
This year’s election will bring immense change to our nation and our state. Because we know you love kids as much as we do, we want to take a moment now to share our initial thinking about the impacts of the election on children and on our work as child advocates.
No parent should have to choose between caring for a sick child and earning a day’s pay. That’s one of the reasons behind our support for Initiative 1433, the measure to raise the minimum wage statewide and provide paid sick days to all Washington workers.
SEATTLE – As Washington kids head back to school, educators, parents and children’s health experts gathered on Thursday to announce their support for the Yes on 1433 campaign, which would allow more than 1 million Washington workers to earn paid sick leave.
This past session, the Children’s Alliance fought for policy solutions rooted in our commitment to improve the lives of Washington’s children and advance racial equity, so every child has the opportunity they deserve.
The Children’s Alliance has endorsed Initiative 1433 for a higher minimum wage and paid sick leave all across the state of Washington.
Why YES on 1433? Here’s why.
Children’s Alliance staff, volunteers and community partners recently re-imagined the future of our work to end childhood hunger. Among our conclusions were these: One way to fight hunger broadly, as well as improve the health, well-being and learning of Washington’s kids, is by erasing disparities across race and ethnicity. And, good jobs are a great way to end hunger.
Higher wages and access to paid sick leave stabilize families and help kids grow up healthy and strong. Approximately 1 in 5 children in our state live in poverty and face long-term barriers to success in school and in life. As this chart shows, Washington’s children of color are more likely to experience poverty than are White children. That’s because the adults in their households have fewer opportunities to work in the good jobs with benefits that are the cornerstone of American prosperity.
Better wages and access to paid sick leave stabilize families and help kids grow up healthy and strong. One in five children in our state live in poverty and face long-term barriers to success in school and in life. Family-friendly workplace policies move us closer to ending childhood hunger and poverty. When crafted well, such policies are also a step toward racial equity, as people of color disproportionately hold low-wage jobs without paid leave benefits.
Governor Inslee’s Executive Order re: State Blue Ribbon Commission on the Delivery of Services to Children and Families
Statement from Children’s Alliance, Feb. 18, 2016
Any structural change in the state of Washington’s service delivery for children should be guided by what’s best for kids. And, when not all kids are faring well, our attention and resources should prioritize the most vulnerable. Data about child outcomes in our state show wide disparities in economic security, educational, and health outcomes by family income and race and ethnicity.
Children’s Alliance Champions for Children are state lawmakers recognized for their outstanding service to children in a specific policy area in a particular legislative session.
All children deserve a great start in life. But our state’s tax system puts too many of them in harm’s way.
Revenues as a proportion of the economy have shrunk over the past 15 years, resulting in cuts to basic services. Children in communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by these cuts.
Ending these cuts boosts our economy. Ending the 25 percent cut to State Food Assistance would generate more than $17 million in economic activity through June 2017.
Washington ranks 41st out of 50 states in reaching low-income students with nutritious school breakfasts. Without a healthy breakfast, a student’s chance of success is drastically reduced.
The good news is there’s a solution: Breakfast After the Bell incorporates the most important meal into the school day – just like lunch!
Serving breakfast in the cafeteria before the school day starts presents many obstacles for kids and families. Bus and carpool schedules, social stigma, and peer pressure prevent kids from eating school breakfast at that time.
Washington’s success depends on great educational outcomes for all children.
But one in 5 Washington children lives in a household that doesn’t have enough food to get by. It's hard to learn when you are hungry. That’s why more than one million Washingtonians receive federal food stamp benefits, and approximately 15,600 legally residing immigrants use State Food Assistance (SFA).
Click here for a copy of “Unfinished Business: Advocacy for Kids in the 2014 Legislature.”