CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MARCH 01: Tolina Rikitu meets his daughter Ifinaaf outside Hawthorne Scholastic Academy following her first day of in-person learning on March 01, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. Students in kindergarten through fifth grade began in-person learning today as the city continues to phase in a return to the classroom after nearly a year's hiatus and a lengthy battle with the teacher's union brought on by COVID-19 concerns. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
By Shira Small The Trump Administration’s cuts to federal child care and early education programs and staff are putting children, families, and the economy at risk. Children are already losing access to care, the remaining federal workforce is overburdened, child care providers are losing their…
Unemployment has spiked to over 14 percent for March 2020, with most observers predicting a historic high of 20 percent. Without targeted job creation in communities hardest hit, today's crisis will have a lasting negative impact on workers of color and others.
It’s no surprise that families need money to afford basic necessities, especially during COVID-19. One way states can provide immediate help to children in families with low incomes is to create emergency assistance grants using unspent TANF funds.
During COVID-19, everyday people are suddenly confronting zero-hour work weeks, unemployment, food shortages, housing fears, and lack of access to health care. This is what people in poverty have been experiencing for years. My fear is that the people whose lives were already hard, will…
The recently created Pandemic EBT helps families put food on the table for students. But for many immigrant families who’ve been excluded from unemployment assistance and stimulus checks, states must intentionally target their P-EBT outreach to immigrant families to have successful outcomes.
During COVID-19, many state agencies that oversee basic needs programs have been forced to close their assistance offices. As a result, states have had to rethink many of their processes to handle the increase in applications while adhering to social distancing guidelines. When local benefit offices…
Due to systemic inequities in our health and economic systems, marginalized communities have experienced the most severe consequences from the COVID-19 pandemic. The climate crisis poses a similar threat to these communities with even greater implications.
This blog post details Secretary of Education Devos' attempt to exclude undocumented students from emergency aid in the CARES Act and the need to support undocumented students during the pandemic.
This blog post presents 10 policy changes Congress should make in the next coronavirus pandemic stimulus bill to improve the fiscal stability of states and institutions of higher education, continue to provide much-needed emergency aid to students, and maintain college affordability.
Relatives play an important child care role for families of all backgrounds and incomes, even in the best of times. But in this public health and economic crisis, it is particularly important to recognize their value and critical role in an already-fragile child care system…