Sharing Web Resources: Children's Defense Fund

Children’s Defense Fund

                At the beginning of my course, Issues and Trends in Early Childhood, I chose the Children’s Defense Fund as my organization I would learn more about and subscribe to their newsletter.  I just started receiving emails from the organization. In this first email was today’s entry in Marian Wright Edelman’s column, Child Watch and is titled Our Children’s Cry: Do Something.  In the column, she talks about the nation-wide student walk-out that just occurred on the 14^th to honor the 17 students that died during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting one month ago. They also walked out to say they have had enough and want to feel safe again through stricter gun control. They are tired of waiting for the adults and for Congress to do something about it. The column also mentions the statistics of children’s’ gun-related deaths, the daily fear these children endure, and the need to stand up with these children. The next big march is called the March For Our Lives and is being held on March 24^th across the country. It is time that we stand up with these children, with all children, and let them know that we do hear them and that we also care.

                This website covers many different issues and focuses on policy priorities to end child hunger, child criminalization, and child poverty. They also want to ensure that all children have access to health care and quality early childhood education and to protect them from abuse and neglect.

Their website is: www.childrensdefense.org

The link to their newsroom where you can find Edelman’s column Child Watch: http://www.childrensdefense.org/newsroom/#child-watch

               As I was looking through their website, I found a program called Young Advocate Leadership Training (YALT). It is conducted by the Children’s Defense Fund on behalf of the Black Community Crusade for Children (BCCC). The program’s focus is to build a movement for children and to train a new group of young leaders.  The purpose is to build a strong advocacy group and for social justice. They also train young leaders ages 18-30 to be strong advocates in their communities (CDF, 2018).

Children’s Defense Fund’s website is full of information and they have several programs that help children. They are a strong advocate group. I am looking forward to learning more about them.

References

Children’s Defense Fund. (2018). http://www.childrensdefense.org

Child Watch. (2018). http://www.childrensdefense.org/newsroom/#child-watch

Children’s Defense Fund. (2018). Youth Development & Leadership. http://www.childrensdefense.org/programs/YouthDevelopment/