Image: A day after the mass killing of children in Uvalde, and 11 days after the racist killing of 10 Black grocery shoppers in Buffalo, the George Floyd memorial offers a place for collective grief in Minneapolis, two years after his killing
At GRACE and End Child Poverty CA we are mothers, siblings, daughters. We’re hurting. We reached out to our founders, the Daughters of Charity, for a healing prayer. Thoughts and prayers are nothing without action. We’re committed to continued action for justice so that all our children are safe, nourished, valued, healthy, and free.
God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world: peace in the hearts of all people and peace among the nations of the earth. Turn to your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred, and who justify killing.
God of understanding, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the tragedies wrought by violence, we seek your light and guidance as we confront such terrible events.
We ask you in your goodness to give eternal light and peace to the many children and adults whose lives have been senselessly taken.
Heal, too, the pain of grieving families and all who have lost loved ones to gun violence and all violence motivated by racial or religious hatred. Give them strength to continue their lives with courage and hope.
Comfort and console us, strengthen us in hope, and give us the wisdom and courage to work tirelessly for a world where true peace and love reign among nations and in the hearts of all.
The 170+ End Child Poverty CA Coalition members are united in 2022! Together we’re supporting $10 Billion to Fight Poverty. Our plan is ambitious and absolutely achievable. In a state as rich and abundant as California, every child should be valued and free. Info and tools below.
Fund and create more community networks. We need community-led pandemic recovery, and cradle to career networks empower families through a child’s whole life. (AB 2517 – Bonta, TOOLKIT)
On Friday March 25, the California Cradle to Career Coalition was in Oakland! With our momentum, we are going to pass the It Takes A Village Act (AB 2517, Bonta)! Our bold bill author Assemblymember Mia Bonta gathered Oakland leaders. We turned out community-based organizations, community leaders, families, and promotoras (community outreach workers). The goal: get the community-led recovery the money it needs! Fund Promise Neighborhoods! Fund Cradle to Career Networks! Let our communities lead the way. We can pass the It Takes A Village Act, Assembly Bill 2517!
During the event, the energy was contagious. There wasn’t a frown to be found. The love for our families and communities poured with dedication, laughter, warm hugs of embrace and gratification.
The work that has been done, and the continued work these organizations and community relationships are still doing was coloring the entire space!
“It Takes A Village” Day of Action just goes to show we aren’t slowing down, we’re just getting started, TOGETHER!
Collaboration and change were brought to the event!
You can read more about what is being said about the event here!
Note: Assembly Bill 2517, championed by Assemblymember Mia Bonta, will establish a grant program to provide funding to organizations that provide services to children and families from before birth through college and career.
End Child Poverty CA has made it our mission to get REAL about taxes this year. Taxes can be overwhelming & scary. But they don’t have to be. There are tons of free resources. Tax credits can get you thousands of dollars back. There are even options for people without social security numbers to file and get money back. Resources below.
Watch our “La Carcacha” tax season music video on Instagram, Twitter, or Tik Tok.
If you miss the deadline of April 18, 2022, it’s okay.
If you don’t owe money in taxes, you can file through October 15, 2022. There’s no penalty. And you can still get your tax credits money.
If you do owe money or think you will owe money, file for a free extension that will give you until October 2022. If you don’t file an extension, you can still file and pay a penalty, but still get your tax credits money.
Tax season is complicated, stressful and overwhelming, but with the help of familiar faces and spaces where the people care about you, it can be easy!
Let’s face it, we’ve all gone to those agencies, who really want you in and out and just sign here.
There are agencies who want to educate the community so we can all rise above the anxieties around taxes! Let’s learn together and share where we have found those amazon agencies this tax year or prior!
Download these easy-to-read tax credit outreach tools! We made them for promotoras and community outreach workers. These simple decision trees can help families get over the very real fear and anxiety of filing taxes. Find English, Spanish, and Chinese below. This project is a collaboration with Parent Voices CA.
Let’s get our communities the money they earned and deserve!
ALL OF US TOGETHER: Read on about how Assembly member Mia Bonta (D-Oakland), along with cosponsors GRACE, End Child Poverty California, and the Cradle to Career Coalition, are empowering community-based networks with the funding they need to join forces in the fight against poverty.
She says, “I am proud to coauthor the ‘It Takes a Village Act’. I have seen firsthand the benefits of this evidenced based approach to support coordinated community services.”
This beginning of the new year was launched the It Takes a Village Act bill and budget proposal earlier today. It Takes a Village would implement a place-based approach that centers on the needs of children and families in communities across California and ensure access to a quality continuum of wraparound services from cradle-to-career.
Assemblymember Mia Bonta Launched “It Takes a Village Act” with GRACE, End Child Poverty California, and CA Cradle to Career Coalition
Assembly member Mia Bonta (D-Oakland), along with cosponsors GRACE, End Child Poverty California, and the Cradle to Career Coalition, virtually launched the It Takes a Village Act bill and budget proposal earlier today.
It Takes a Village would implement a place-based approach that centers on the needs of children and families in communities across California, and ensure access to a quality continuum of wraparound services from cradle-to-career. The legislation will be introduced later this week.
“The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted that communities with coordinated, place-based initiatives and service delivery are more resilient. Whether the next challenge California faces is due to climate change, a new infectious disease or economic recession, this proposal will make evidence-based investments in communities up and down the state. In light of another historic surplus, California must rebuild with coordinated neighborhood and regional services that can usher in a more vibrant and equitable future for all Californians,” said Assistant Speaker pro Tempore Bonta.
Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-San Bernardino) added, “Neighborhood-based programs, like the Community Action Partnership and Growing Inland Achievement in my district, have a demonstrated track record of helping children and families thrive. Combined with other programs, like Promise Neighborhoods and our Cradle to Career systems, they have the power to create real change for California families. But all too often, these networks lack the funding they need to coordinate their services for the greatest level of impact. This is why I am proud to be Principal Coauthor to Assemblymember Bonta’s ‘It Takes a Village Act,’ a bill that will strengthen our communities by creating partnerships and increasing communication across California’s regional networks. By establishing this grant program, Assemblymember
Bonta is empowering community-based networks with the funding they need to join forces in the fight against poverty.”
“I am proud to coauthor the ‘It Takes a Village Act’. I have seen firsthand the benefits of this evidenced based approach to support coordinated community services. Hayward Promise Neighborhood features a family education program for preschool to college, student success coaches in partnership with CSU East Bay, and healthy food access through the Alameda County Community Food Bank,” said Assembly member Bill Quirk (D-Hayward).
Shimica Gaskins, spokesperson for the CA Cradle to Career Coalition, said, “Promise Neighborhoods and Cradle to Career regional networks provide data-driven solutions to ensure that children and families receive the resources that they need. Both programs braid cross-sector resources, leverage community partnerships, and work towards systemic change by tackling the racial and economic inequities in our communities. We are proud that Assemblymember Mia Bonta is sponsoring the It Takes A Village Act to support and expand these critical programs.”
OUR FUTURE TO LOOK FORWARD TO: There are important efforts moving ahead in the Senate. GRACE/End Child Poverty in California (ECPCA), and Liberation in a Generation talk about the Hope, Opportunity, Perseverance, and Empowerment (HOPE) for Children Act of 2022 (or SB 854). Read about the efforts being done and what this Act entails for our families, our community, and the future that we all deserve. Learn about why: “Baby bonds” aim to close the racial wealth gap and break cycles of intergenerational poverty by ensuring everyone has access to capital they can use to establish long-term financial stability. Scroll to read or read more here.
California Anti-Poverty Organizations Applaud Legislation to Strengthen Safety Net for Children Impacted by COVID-19 and Lay Groundwork for “Baby Bonds”
GRACE, End Child Poverty in California and Liberation in a Generation Urge Lawmakers to Pass the Bill, Which Would Pave the Way for ‘Baby Bonds’ to Combat Generational Poverty and Income Inequality In the State
SACRAMENTO, CA, January 10, 2022 – GRACE/End Child Poverty in California (ECPCA), and Liberation in a Generation – two anti-poverty organizations working in California – praise the introduction of the Hope, Opportunity, Perseverance, and Empowerment (HOPE) for Children Act of 2022 (or SB 854) by Senator Nancy Skinner today in the California State Senate. If passed, the Hope Accounts will offer up to $4,000 to children under age 10 and $8,000 for children 10- 18 in state-issued trust funds to low-income children who have lost a parent or guardian to COVID-19 and eligible foster youth. The bill would also lay crucial groundwork for the potential expansion of “baby bonds” in the future to support greater economic opportunity for children impacted by poverty.
“Baby bonds” aim to close the racial wealth gap and break cycles of intergenerational poverty by ensuring everyone has access to capital they can use to establish long-term financial stability. Nearly 2 million children in California were living in poverty in 2019 – the highest child poverty rate in the country and a reminder of the state’s stark economic disparities across racial lines. Those disparities were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic as low-income families (and especially families of color) grappled with soaring housing and food costs, lack of adequate support for transitions to remote work and school environments, and greater risk of exposure to and severity of the virus itself. However, the expansion of government social safety net programs in response to the pandemic proved successful in helping to alleviate poverty – slashing the child poverty rate by a third in 2020.
“The past two years have demonstrated the effectiveness of bold government action in reducing poverty in California,” said Shimica Gaskins, President & CEO of GRACE and End Child Poverty California. “Intergenerational poverty and the loss of a parent or guardian can have significant impacts on a child’s development, wellbeing, and outcomes over the short- and long-term. We must close the racial wealth gap that disportionationaly prevents Black and Brown children from the opportunity to thrive. The Hope Accounts proposed are necessary to level the playing field for California’s children.”
“The Hope Act would be an important step towards the goal of ensuring every Californian has the access and support they need to build a healthy, wealthy, and safe future,” said Michael Tubbs, former mayor of Stockon, CA and founder of End Poverty in California. “But we can’t stop there. We should be working towards a future where kids don’t have to lose a parent in order to qualify for money that will give them access to the same range of choices that kids from wealthy families take for granted. Every child deserves a chance to pursue higher education, entrepreneurship, homeownership, and other asset-building opportunities when they grow up, and that’s what baby bond programs like this can ensure.”
Government-issued bond programs aren’t a new concept. Social Security has been helping to provide Americans with economic security in their retirement years for decades. Similarly, baby bonds would ensure that every child has access to a “seed fund” of capital they can use to invest in their future. Early studies show the promise of this type of direct intervention for “dramatically reducing” the racial wealth gap and helping families break out of generational cycles of poverty.
Intergenerational poverty in America is rooted in racist, classist and exclusionary policy choices that have created vast economic inequality and a racial wealth gap. Baby bonds are one of the best policy tools at our disposal to combat the enduring effects of that history and chart a better path forward. In 2021, the state of Connecticut, New York City, and Washington, D.C. each enacted similar programs.
“We urge state lawmakers to use this bill as an opportunity to pilot a longer-term plan to address the pervasive wealth inequalities that perpetuate economic oppression,” said Solana Rice, co-founder and co-executive director of Liberation in a Generation. “Baby bonds are a dignity-centered way to ensure that poverty is not passed down to the next generation of Californians.”
About GRACE and End Child Poverty in CA
Founded by the Daughters of Charity, who have been working in California since 1852, GRACE is led by Shimica Gaskins. GRACE and the End Child Poverty in California (ECPCA) Campaign use education, advocacy, and mobilization programs to make a positive difference in the lives of low-income families and their children. GRACE dares to imagine a liberated future, free from systemic racism and poverty, in which all children experience a childhood of abundance, love, dignity, and opportunities to thrive. To achieve this vision, GRACE is building a joyful movement by centering communities, building authentic partnerships, and advancing public investments that create transformative intergenerational change . Learn more about GRACE and ECPCA at http://www.endchildpovertyca.org.
About Liberation in a Generation
Liberation in a Generation is a national movement-support organization, working to build the power of people of color to totally transform the economy—who controls it, how it works, and most importantly, for whom. It brings together economists, advocates, community organizers, and other proven and emerging leaders of color across the country to build a Liberation Economy, within one generation.
UPDATE & EXPANSION: Read on! We are making strides and our voices heard for our children and our caregivers. Read more about how Senator Susan Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, this past month introduced a bill expanding the eligibility for the child tax credit, which will help struggling families and reduce poverty. SB 860 expands the eligibility of the Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC) from $1 earning to $0 to include in-home caregivers without paid work. Senator Rubio introduced a similar bill, SB 691, last year. Governor Gavin Newsom’s January proposed budget highlighted the need for this expansion and it is getting done. The future is coming, read on for more details or click to download below!
Senator Susan Rubio’s Bill Champions Young Child Tax Credit Expansion
January 20, 2022
SACRAMENTO, CA – Building off her efforts in 2021, Senator Susan Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, today introduced a bill expanding the eligibility for the child tax credit, which will help struggling families and reduce poverty.
SB 860 expands the eligibility of the Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC) from $1 earning to $0 to include in-home caregivers without paid work. Senator Rubio introduced a similar bill, SB 691, last year. Governor Gavin Newsom’s January proposed budget highlighted the need for this expansion.
“The child tax credit is one of the most effective tools for reducing poverty and supporting struggling families, and my bill, SB 860, will expand eligibility for this program,” said Senator Rubio. “Removing this unnecessary work requirement allows for an equitable distribution of financial resources to those who need it the most. I look forward to working with my colleagues, stakeholders and Governor Newsom on this issue.”
“We are proud to support Senator Rubio’s bill to expand the Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC) to include households that do not earn income. Governor Newsom’s budget included this idea because it’s both smart and the right thing to do. Providing for the basic needs of young children grows more expensive every year and we have a historic budget surplus that can be invested in better outcomes for low-income families,” said Amy Everitt, President of Golden State Opportunity. “Regardless of their yearly earnings, parents of young children already have the hardest–and most important–job in America and deserve the same level of support as other working parents. This tax credit of up to $1,000 for each child under 6 would go a long way to helping struggling parents support their families.”
“The Young Child Tax Credit is a game-changer for families. Last year, UWCA and the CalEITC Coalition were proud to sponsor legislation authored by Senator Rubio to remove the $1 earning requirement. And now, as we reintroduce this legislation, it is truly exciting to see the Governor’s budget proposal reflect our priorities as we move into the new year,” said Pete Manzo, President and CEO of United Ways of California. “We know from our Real Cost Measure report that over half of families with children under 6 in California struggle financially, so the more we can do for these families, the better. We applaud Senator Rubio and Governor Newsom for their leadership on this issue.”
“In 2019, the Young Child Tax Credit became one of California’s most important tools to end deep child poverty,” said Shimica Gaskins, President & CEO at GRACE & End Child Poverty in California. “We should continue to optimize the YCTC to close the racial wealth divide and ensure families can meet their basic needs. This legislation builds on the Governor’s budget proposal by ensuring the full young child tax credit reaches children and families. We applaud Senator Rubio for leading this fight in the Legislature.”
To read the original statement from Senator Rubio Susan Rubio, click here.
