DC Council Invests $5 Million Toward Child Care Stabilization In recent weeks and months, early educators and parents raised the alarm about the need to stabilize the child care industry to help pave the way for a healthy recovery for children, families and educators. In response to our - YOUR - growing pressure, the DC Council approved $5 million in...

Report Shows Critical Role of Home Visiting Programs Before, During, and After Pandemic by Nisa Hussain, Early Childhood Program Associate, DC Action for Children We are pleased to announce the release of the 2019 Annual Report of the District of Columbia Home Visiting Council. While we are midway through a tumultuous 2020, and at the end of an unusually long...

Without any public debate, the DC Council is rushing a last-minute deal to cut $18 million in funding for programs and services that help those hit hardest by COVID-19. Further diminishing vital programs during a pandemic and doing so behind closed doors - at a time when there are serious unmet needs is reckless and immoral. The DC Council is...

Next week, the DC Council will hold its second vote on the budget, giving council members the opportunity to take greater action to address our growing child care crisis, which has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. That is why we are calling on the DC Council to take immediate action to stabilize the child care sector and pursue long-term...

When Structural Racism Went Viral: Race and Care in the Nation’s Capital Jarred Bowman is a Policy Analyst with DC Action for Children providing research and advocacy to help build political power for children and families in the District. Part I: The Racial Pandemic within the Viral Pandemic On April 5, 2020, my Aunt Betty passed away from COVID-19 at...

FIRST VOTE ON DC BUDGET AND MORE! On Tuesday, the DC Council took the first vote on the FY 2021 budget. In many ways, it was a step in the right direction, but when we stop to consider how much ground children and families, and the educators and workers who care for them, have lost as a result of the...

Please join me in giving our newest team member, Tawana Jacobs, a warm welcome to DC Action for Children! Tawana Jacobs leads strategic brand and communications efforts for Under 3 DC and shines a spotlight on the need for more public investments for families with infants and toddlers. Tawana is an accredited public relations (APR) professional with over 20 years...

The COVID-19 pandemic has created many barriers and interruptions to out-of-school time programming. As a result, service providers have been forced to pivot to virtual learning platforms to continue to serve youth. Providers were uncertain about what to expect and how to tailor their programs to meet the current challenges. We hosted the 21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) Virtual...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JULY 6, 2020 #JustRecoveryDC Campaign: FY 2021 Budget Proposal Must Go Further DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson’s proposed FY 2021 budget released earlier today is a step in the right direction but still fails to fully meet the urgency of the current moment. At a time when tens of thousands of Washingtonians are rising up against racist...

With the District on the eve of our first budget vote during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important for us to step back and reflect on the disparate impacts the virus is having--not just on our health--but also on families’ economic security. As with most crises, without conscious action it’s likely that the families harmed the most will be the same...