Policy Papers & Issue Briefs

An overview of COFA Islander Health Care and the Children's Health Program, and why we need to protect them. Download PDF.

An organizational letter to Governor Jay Inslee asking him to protect the Children's Health Program.

Working with parents, policymakers and community leaders from across Washington state, Children’s Alliance advances public policies that address the barriers of poverty and racism in order to give every child the opportunities they deserve. In the 2019 session, our advocacy produced the following results:

The 2019 Washington State Legislature passed Senate Bill 5274, establishing a COFA Islander Dental Care program. This new bipartisan law makes no-cost dental coverage available to adults from Compact of Free Association (COFA) nations residing in Washington, who are income-eligible for Medicaid (below 138% of the Federal Poverty Level).

PDF version: English or Marshallese

State lawmakers can take important steps to improve kids’ lives in the 2019 state legislative session. Candidates for the Washington state legislature will make critical choices for our kids if they are elected in November. Their choices can help kids have great childhoods and grow up strong, and advance racial equity and opportunity for all our kids.

Children’s Alliance has taken the following positions on statewide ballot measures. 

We believe in the potential of every child. Poverty and racism erode kids’ opportunities. Our 2019 legislative agenda (PDF) reflects smart public policies that remove barriers and create opportunity—so all kids can thrive.

We all have a stake in the basic services and supports that help Washington’s kids. We count on programs and services, quality schools, health care and other public goods that make Washington great. Our shared investments contribute to quality early learning, child nutrition, and other services and supports that let kids thrive.

Provide premium and cost-sharing assistance to Washingtonians from Compact of Free Association nations to improve health equity for Pacific Islander families.

Children’s Alliance proudly supports Initiative 940. It’s good for kids and public safety.

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.

I.    Short-Term Opportunities: Now through November 2017

We all have a stake in making sure that, from the day they’re born, kids can have the enriching experiences they need to get off to a great start in life. Research has found quality early learning can give children the tools they need to thrive academically and emotionally throughout their young lives and beyond.

Children’s Alliance is very pleased to see a number of our priorities reflected in 2SHB 1661. This brief outlines the provisions in the legislation a