Children’s Defense Fund

Children’s Defense Fund: State of America’s Children Reveals that 71 Percent of Children of Color Live in Poverty

“While we reported on the 73 million children in the U.S. in 2019, which is 22 percent of the nation’s population, we also note that 2020 was the first year in American history that a majority of children are projected to be children of color,” said the Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, the president and CEO of the Children’s Defense Fund.

L.A. County Takes First Steps Toward New Youth Justice Department

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted last week to take the first steps in transitioning to a rehabilitative, `care- first’ model of juvenile justice, a plan expected to ultimately move funding and responsibility out of the probation department and into a new Department of Youth Development by 2025.

Statement on Mayor Garcetti’s Announcements During Ongoing Protests

Mayor Eric Garcetti announced last night that the City would cut the Los Angeles Police Department budget by $100-$150 million, responding to the demands of tens of thousands of Los Angeles residents who have protested and advocated this past week. By showing up together for Black lives, we have made this possible.

Hill Appointed Interim Pastor at Holman UMC

The Rev. Paul A. Hill is the new interim pastor of Holman United Methodist Church, the largest African American UMC congregation in Southern California.  A retired elder in the UMC denomination, Hill brings significant expertise in the areas of pastoral care, church administration, creative ministries for children, youth and seniors, and innovative HIV/AIDS outreach. Hill has served in senior-level capacities at many churches and universities in Texas, the east coast and Southern California, including seven years as associate pastor at Holman UMC. Most recently, he was the pastor at Grace UMC in Los Angeles. He also headed congregations at Bowen

Clyburn and Booker Introduce Sweeping Anti-Poverty Bill

“For far too long, persistent poverty communities have suffered from neglect and indifference, leading to a lack of access to quality schools, affordable quality health care, and adequate job opportunities,” said Majority Whip Clyburn. “This legislation seeks to right this wrong by targeting much needed federal investments to areas that need them the most.”

Marian Wright Edelman Stepping Aside From CDF

“Though we face unprecedented challenges and threats to the safety and well-being of America’s children, we refuse to go backwards. No matter who holds the reins of political power, CDF will move forward in our mission to Leave No Child Behind and ensure that every child has a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage into adulthood,” Edelman said.

Child Watch: Recognizing All of America’s S/Heroes

Every day I wear a pair of medallions around my neck with portraits of two of my role models: Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. As a child I read books about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. She and indomitable and eloquent slave woman Sojourner Truth represent countless thousands of anonymous slave women whose bodies and minds were abused and whose voices were muted by slavery, Jim Crow, segregation and confining gender roles throughout our nation’s history. Although Harriet Tubman could not read books, she could read the stars to find her way north to freedom. And she freed not only herself from slavery, but returned to slave country again and again through forests and streams and across mountains to lead other slaves to freedom at great personal danger. She was tough. She was determined. She was fearless. She was shrewd and she trusted God completely to deliver her, and other fleeing slaves, from pursuing captors who had placed a bounty on her life.

Children’s Defense Fund Honors 5 L.A. High School Students

The Children’s Defense Fund–California hosted its 25th Annual Beat the Odds™ Awards ceremony on December 3, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. The celebration honored five Los Angeles high school “stars” – David Cho, NiTasha Denson, Stephanie Gamino, David Sanchez, Vincent Zamarripa – in recognition of their excellence in academic achievement, despite the overwhelming obstacles that stand in their way.