Reducing Disparities for Latino Children and Families: A National Latino Infant Policy Agenda Provides Solutions
BUILD believes that to effectively meet the needs of young children and their families, we must recognize existing disparities, including opportunity and achievement gaps. Therefore, we see the urgent need to support policy solutions to better serve Latino infants, toddlers, and families.
At a February briefing on Capitol Hill, UnidosUS and Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors drew attention to the massive gaps for Latino children that demand policy action across education, health care, economic security, and immigration. Here are some of the alarming facts provided at the briefing, along with some relevant BUILD resources:
- More than half of Latino families have never sent their youngest child to child care. One in three of them cite cost as the reason. One in four Latinos has been unable to work due to a lack of affordable child care.
- Nearly 20 percent of Latinos lack health insurance, compared to 5 percent of non-Hispanic whites. And one in five Latino households has faced hunger.
- 27 percent of Latino children live in poverty, compared to 9 percent of white children.
- Almost 40 percent of Latino families that have received speech therapy have received the advice to stop speaking Spanish to their children. This advice contradicts the research evidence. Read some BUILD resources on supporting emerging bilingual learners and their families here.
Their recommendations to tackle disparities include the following:
- Improve access to high-quality, culturally responsive early childhood programs.
- Increase salaries, diversify, and train the early childhood workforce on dual language development.
- Promote family engagement and home visiting efforts that are respectful of home languages.
- Expand health care access, including mental health care.
- Address food insecurity among Latino families, supporting programs like SNAP and WIC.
- Tackle gun violence as a public health crisis affecting children.
- Boost economic security for Latina mothers and families by championing paid family leave and expanding child tax credit.
- Support humane immigration policies since they affect every aspect of Latino children’s lives.
We know you agree there is nothing more important than providing access to opportunity for all our children. Learn more about the Latino Infant Policy Agenda and consider how you can support its proposed policy solutions.
Explore More
Advocating for Early Intervention Our Passion, Our Future
Archived Webinar April 12, 2024
Parents, advocates, early interventionists, and their partners in four very different states will share their experiences to discuss how they formed new partnerships to strengthen Early Intervention and their struggles and solutions. Key themes including equitable access, adequate funding, workforce recruitment/retention, and family voice in decision-making will be highlighted.
Operationalizing High-Quality Dual Language Programming: From the Early Years to the Early Grades
Report April 9, 2024
The aim of this brief, from Children's Equity Project and The Century Foundation, is to operationalize what high quality dual language immersion looks like for infants/toddlers, preschoolers, and students in Kindergarten through second grade. The brief provides an overview important context and core concepts foundational for this work, including a description of emergent bilinguals in the United States, a strength-based approaches to bilingualism, a historical account of bilingual education, and a description of how DLI education is part of a broader, equitable child serving system.
Understanding Latino Children and Families’ Well-being Requires Data Disaggregated by Birth Within or Outside the United States
Report March 13, 2024
This brief from the National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families, builds on previous findings and on their previous work showing that the challenges, opportunities, and lived experiences of Latinx individuals vary significantly by their nativity status—a term used to distinguish people who were born in the United States from those who were born outside it- and that these differences are tied in significant ways to their and their children’s well-being. These differences should be considered when examining how policies and programs support the diverse needs of Latino individuals.