Sharing Web Resources (Week 6)

Some of the outside links on the Children's Defense Fund's website take readers to the state offices of California, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Texas, and the Southern Regional Office for the organization. I went through each link, but they all had the same information as the national site. The only unique thing I noticed was that you were able to donate to specific states, versus at the national level, if you selected the state's page. It would have been helpful to read about activism, volunteering, or programs and policies specific to that area.

I decided to explore the page for CDF Haley Farm, which was once the home of Alex Haley, author of the novel Roots. Located near Knoxville, TN, Haley Farm now houses the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry, the Ella Baker Freedom School training, spiritual retreats, and other gatherings. It serves as a training facility for those who seek to improve the lives of children and families in poverty.

With the midterm elections coming up, CDF is encouraging readers to vote. They include a link to TurboVote, a service that allows you to register to vote and receive up-to-date information, and sends reminders about local and national elections. CDF also includes information on voter ID laws for each state. The information, in my opinion, is the CDF Voter Guide. This guide gives voters questions to ask candidates during elections. These questions pertain to the health and well-being of children and families living in poverty. As advocates and voters, it's important that we know where the candidates we're voting for stand in regards to the issues that matter to us.

This website focuses heavily on equity, with policies on child poverty, health, education, and welfare. CDF notes that children living in poverty often fall behind their peers as they are more likely to lack access to high quality early childhood programs. This often leads to children of color and those with disabilities to be denied opportunities for success, contributing to the risk of them entering the school-to-prison pipeline.

While exploring the website this week, I saw a recent press release noting that the Trump Administration proposed change to the "public charge" rule, which could potentially plunge millions of immigrant children and families into poverty, hunger, and homelessness. This change would allow the Department of Homeland Security to deny visas and green cards to immigrants who use public assistance programs. As nearly 1 in 4 children in America has an immigrant parent, this proposed change could result in millions of children going without food assistance, health coverage, safe housing, and more.