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Families & The Federal Budget

#MilitaryMonday: Breastfeeding On-Duty with WIC

August 19, 2016
Imagine flying from Italy to Spain, then boarding another plane from Spain to Virginia, and finally, driving down from Virginia to Tennessee all in a matter of days just to turn around and fly out to California. Sounds exhausting, right? Now add a 5-month-old breastfeeding baby to the mix who is...
Heather Stephens's picture

#MilitaryMonday: Serving and Struggling

July 18, 2016
One military mom speaks out before Congress about the struggles her family faced to make ends meet and put food on the table while her husband served in the military.
Erika Tebbens's picture

Child Watch® Column: Don’t Make Our Most Vulnerable Children Wait Longer!

July 12, 2016
In an important show of bipartisanship, Congress is on the cusp of an historic step to help many of the most vulnerable children in our nation who are abused and neglected and at risk of entering foster care and lingering in group care.
Marian Wright Edelman's picture

Families First Prevention Services Act Introduced

June 30, 2016
On Tuesday, June 21, the House passed by voice vote the Family First Prevention Services Act (H.R. 5456), introduced in the House by Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) and others. Many advocacy groups were supportive of this bipartisan bill, which would allow states to use federal child welfare dollars to pay for family services to prevent children from needing to enter foster care. These services could include mental health services, substance abuse services (including opioid and heroin abuse services), or in-home parenting skills programs (including individual and family therapy).
Lecia Imbery's picture

Paul Ryan's Anti-Poverty Plan: 'Better Lipstick. Same Pig.'

June 28, 2016
Author's note: Earlier this month,, we discussed the June 16 event hosted by the Coalition on Human Needs, What Works – And What Doesn’t – To Reduce Poverty and Expand Opportunity . As part of that event, Melissa Boteach, vice president of the Poverty to Prosperity Program at the Center for...
David Elliot's picture

Paul Ryan's Anti-Poverty Plan: 'Better Lipstick. Same Pig.'

June 28, 2016
Author's note: Earlier this month,, we discussed the June 16 event hosted by the Coalition on Human Needs, What Works – And What Doesn’t – To Reduce Poverty and Expand Opportunity . As part of that event, Melissa Boteach, vice president of the Poverty to Prosperity Program at the Center for...
David Elliot's picture

From trauma to civic engagement: Tacoma mom breaks decades long silence to protect vulnerable teens

June 27, 2016
M ykleAnn kept it bottled up all these years, the memory of the night she'd gone off to a party in Tacoma, looking for fun, and wound up getting raped. She was just 14 years old. Bloodied and bruised, she never uttered a word to anyone out of fear that if her father found out, he would kill the guy...
Roberta Riley's picture

LaJuana Clark's Story: 'It's Not How I Start. It's How I Finish.'

June 21, 2016
Author’s note: Last week, we discussed the Coalition on Human Needs' June 16 event, What Works – And What Doesn’t – To Reduce Poverty and Expand Opportunity . As part of that event, we heard the story of LaJuana Clark, who has struggled with homelessness and under-employment. This is LaJuana’s...
David Elliot's picture

Labor-HHS-Education Bill Moves in the Senate

June 16, 2016
On Thursday, June 9, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed (29-1) the FY17 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (Labor-HHS-Ed) spending bill, the first bipartisan Labor-HHS-Ed bill in seven years. The measure would provide $161.9 billion in discretionary (annually appropriated) funding, $270 million below FY16 levels and $2 billion below President Obama’s request.
Lecia Imbery's picture

Advocates Rally Against Provisions in House Child Nutrition Bill

June 16, 2016
Advocates led by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) rallied on Capitol Hill on Thursday, June 9 against provisions in the House Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill (H.R. 5003) they say are dangerous and misguided. Advocates were opposed to the bill that was introduced because it would weaken the Community Eligibility Provision that allows high-poverty schools to provide free meals to all students, affecting thousands of schools and millions of students, and changes made to the bill made it even more harmful.
Lecia Imbery's picture

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