Trump’s federal spending proposal, released on Tuesday, balances the budget on the backs of children, poor people, and working families. Just a handful of the cuts the New York Times referred to as “unprecedented” include: 29% to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), 19% to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), 17% to Medicaid, and 13.1% to Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). Olivia Golden, executive director of the Center for Law and Social Policy, said that the proposed cuts are, “…both devastating and…completely in opposition to our national interests — investing in children and families and workers.” In fact, the cuts are misguided and cruel – but not surprising.
By Ruth Trombka Editor and Writer, BUILD Initiative
In December, the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute published “Opportunity, Responsibility, and Security: A Consensus Plan for Reducing Poverty and Restoring the American Dream,” a plan to ameliorate one of our country’s most deeply-rooted problems. The plan is distinctive in that it addresses poverty by simultaneously focusing on issues related to family, work, and education. In this blog post Editor and Writer Ruth Trombka examines what this means for early childhood advocates.
Joan Lombardi Director of Early Opportunities LLC
Lombardi explores chapter 8 of Rising to the Challenge. In this chapter, Debi Mathias chronicles the history, trends and innovations that have come to characterize this unique way of thinking about quality. In many ways, QRIS was the heart of the Early Learning Challenge as it was one way to assess a primary goal of a program: to increase the number and percentage of low-income and disadvantaged young children enrolled in high-quality early learning programs. This made the validity of the standards particularly important.
Charlie Bruner, PhD Research and Evaluation Partner, BUILD Initiative Executive Director, Child and Family Policy Center
The Child and Family Policy Center (CFPC) and Every Child Matters (ECM) just released poll results showing how Iowa voters rank issues by importance for the next presidential candidate to address – and how they view children and their needs.
Andrew Brodsky, Principal
Brodsky Research and Consulting
An extensive body of research demonstrates that early childhood interventions are among the most cost-effective public investments we can make. The evidence in favor of high-quality early childhood programming is clear. But converting solid research into policy change can be challenging. Skeptical, recession-weary audiences may be averse to new funding initiatives. Additionally, overly academic discussions of social program details may alienate those who are not experts in the field.
Marsha Basloe
Senior Advisor for Early Childhood, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood DevelopmentACF, HHS
Living in Massachusetts and New York, I am no stranger to cold weather in the winter. I fortunately ... did not weather the frigid cold unprepared! I wish that were true for everyone, especially families with young children. Recent temperatures in the Washington, D.C./Virginia area dipped to single digit numbers, and shelters were full to capacity.
BUILD Initiative
Miriam CalderonBUILD Initiative Special Projects Consultant