Three Things You Can do Now to Help Kids and Families

It’s been a while since I’ve checked in with this blog, and I blame my tendency to over-think. I want to write about the most urgent issue, the most effective action you can take, to have the most positive impact on children and their families. But as we seem to be learning almost every day, neither politics nor the public policy they produce are perfect, and we can’t let that paralyze us. So here are three quick but important things you can do today to have a positive impact on children’s lives. Don’t think about them too much… just put one foot in front of the other (as Chris Kringle sings).

1) If you are part of an organization that serves children, the National Women’s Law Center is circulating a sign-on letter to be sent to the House and Senate for national, state, and local groups urging support of the Access to Nutritious Meals for Young Children Act of 2009, S. 2749 and H.R. 4402, introduced by Senator Gillibrand (D-NY) Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY). If your organization would like to sign on to the letter or if you want more information, please contact Rio Romero by close of business next Monday, January 25th. She can be reached at rromero@nwlc.org, or (202) 319-3056).

2) Check out the important work the National Center for Children in Poverty is doing around measuring poverty and understanding the financial struggles of children and their families. You can start by viewing and listening to NCCP’s webinar on Federal and Local Efforts to Modernize the Poverty Measure – an outdated and inadequate standard that’s used to allocate all types of public support, from Head Start to food assistance. From there you can explore NCCP's tools for advocates, practitioners, and administrators, including their Basic Needs Budget Calculator.

3) Finally, and perhaps most obviously and urgently, please -- if you haven't already -- make a donation to an organization that’s providing relieve in Haiti. With an estimated death toll of 200,000 the Haitian earthquake has certainly left many, many children without food, shelter, health care, and other basic needs. One organization that is doing great work to help them is Partners in Health.

There are so many more steps you can take to help children and families, but the most important thing is to get started. If you have other suggestions, please comment here. A belated happy New Year to all of you!