Anti-poverty organizations Archives - End Child Poverty in California

RELEASE: California’s Final Budget Protects the Safety Net; ECPCA Coalition Commits to Further Advocacy

Posted on June 24, 2024 at 6:37 pm.

GRACE & the End Child Poverty CA Coalition Look Forward to Adoption of a Final State Budget that Protects the Safety Net; Urge Continued Action to Ensure the Revenues Needed to End Child Poverty in California Are Achieved

[Pasadena, Calif.] – Statement attributable to Shimica Gaskins, President & CEO, GRACE & End Child Poverty California (ECPCA):

This weekend, Governor Newsom and California legislative leaders announced the 2024-25 state budget agreement. The GRACE & the End Child Poverty CA Coalition supports this budget agreement, as it prioritizes proven safety net programs that support Californians experiencing poverty, even as the state faced a budget shortfall. We are grateful to the many parents and children who bravely spoke up and advocated for the outcomes achieved in this agreement, and we thank the Governor and legislative leaders for heeding their call.

This budget walks the walk to put our values first, making difficult choices that prioritize the most vulnerable Californians. We applaud Governor Newsom and legislative leaders for preserving vital safety net programs that provide cash, child care, food, health care, and other supportive services. This budget learns the lesson that austerity is a failed policy and sets the new standard that the anti-poverty safety net must be protected during a deficit.
Shimica Gaskins, GRACE & End Child Poverty CA President & CEO

The final budget agreement reflects a commitment to prioritize proven anti-poverty programs and reject failed austerity measures (across-the-board cuts) that have been relied on in the past. California has historically cut from the very programs that support people to overcome poverty and move into the middle class. A budget is a reflection of our values, and it must protect those hit hardest by the rising costs of basic needs. Austerity cuts were the previous playbook and they pushed Californians – disproportionately Black, Brown, Immigrant, and Indigenous families – deeper into poverty. This budget establishes a new blueprint for how California safeguards family and child stability when a budget crisis hits.

We extend our gratitude to Governor Newsom; Senate President Pro Tem McGuire; Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas; Budget Chairs Asm. Jesse Gabriel and Sen. Wiener; and Subcommittee Chairs Asm. Alvarez, Asm. Jackson, Sen. Laird, Sen. Menjivar, Sen. Padilla, Asm. Quirk-Silva, and Asm. Weber for this final budget agreement that prevents permanent and irreversible harm to children living in poverty.

California’s leaders demonstrated their shared values to prioritize ending child poverty, despite a looming deficit, including:

The Governor’s protects core cash grants in CalWORKs and Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment (SSI/SSP) and supports healthy school meals for all as well as the Summer EBT program, the first new federal entitlement in a generation.
The Legislature’s budget rejected cuts that would have meant irreversible harm to children and families by restoring life-saving programs across CalWORKs, child care, In-Home Support Services, CalFresh, and other vital anti-poverty programs.

The budget also includes important actions to continue increasing workers’ wages. We underscore our commitment that increasing wages is critical to reducing poverty, and moving families beyond eligibility for public benefits and toward the middle class.

Furthermore, the budget agreement maintains the Summer Bridge Fund, keeping classified providers at schools and reinforcing summer wages for school meal providers who are essential to maintaining California’s nation-leading universal school meals and other child nutrition programs.

In addition, we applaud actions to find budget savings by deactivating prison housing units and some actions to temporarily limit corporate tax breaks.

We urge the Governor and Legislature to permanently make California’s revenue system more equitable by ensuring wealthy corporations pay their fair share.

Despite these significant wins for families, we are disappointed that the final budget:

Misses a key opportunity to build on the Governor’s leadership to pursue federal CalWORKs pilots with family-centered changes that align with federal guidance calling for innovations to “re-envision” employment and training to meet family’s unique needs,
Delays Food For All for older adults regardless of immigration status to 2027,
Cuts Free Tax Prep Assistance Education & Outreach for low-income tax credits in half to $10M, and
Draws down the entire $900M Safety Net Reserve over the two-year budget window, rather than pursuing other revenue generating opportunities.

While we’re disappointed that this budget hasn’t provided the opportunity to do even more to end child poverty, we support this budget agreement because it preserves progress and prevents devastating cuts, setting the new standard for budgets during future deficits. The significant actions taken during this administration toward the Governor’s North Star to end child poverty underscore that the constraints this year are from limited resources, not a lack of commitment.

We are eager to work with all stakeholders to implement and build on the actions in this budget. Together, we can build a California where every child is valued and free.

Stay tuned for a full 2024-25 Budget summary and analysis.

RELEASE: GRACE & End Child Poverty California Applauds Legislature’s Budget Agreement

Posted on May 30, 2024 at 10:41 am.

Written by Stephanie Liem

GRACE/End Child Poverty CA Urges Adoption of Legislature’s Budget Which Protects Progress in Core Safety Net Programs and Services

[PASADENA, CALIF., UNITED STATES, May 30, 2024] — Statement attributable to Shimica Gaskins, President & CEO, GRACE & End Child Poverty California (ECPCA):

Yesterday, California legislative leaders announced their joint Legislative budget agreement, marking a crucial step forward in our collective efforts to combat poverty in our communities.

The agreement reflects a commitment to reject failed austerity and prioritize proven anti-poverty programs. The safety net is even more important during challenging economic times, safeguarding families who are hit hardest by rising costs of basic needs and who, unlike their wealthier peers, rely more – not less – on public programs as a result.

We extend our gratitude to Senate President Pro Tem McGuire, Assembly Speaker Rivas, Budget Chairs Gabriel and Wiener, and Subcommittee Chairs, Alvarez, Jackson, Laird, Menjivar Padilla, Quirk-Silva, and Weber, for the agreement that prevents permanent and irreversible harm to children living in poverty.

“This joint Legislative budget agreement reflects putting our values first – ensuring every Californian has the resources and opportunities to thrive,” said Shimica Gaskins, President & CEO. “We applaud the Legislature for prioritizing our most vulnerable children and families. Preserving vital safety net programs that provide cash, childcare, food, healthcare, and other supportive services while retaining key investments from the Governor’s budget, will keep us moving forward in the fight to end child and family poverty. It is critical that these are included in the final budget.”

Key actions outlined in the agreement prevent cuts that would worsen already deep, unjust inequities of poverty for communities of color, including:

Restoring life-saving programs across CalWORKs, child care, IHSS, CalFresh, and other vital anti-poverty programs, and
Preservation and equitable treatment of the Safety Net Reserve.

We are also excited to see actions taken, even amid the deficit problem, that advance timely and important steps to ending child poverty, including:

Building on the Governor’s leadership to pursue federal CalWORKs pilots with family-centered changes, which aligns with national guidance calling on states for innovations to ensure tailored engagement and support family well-being
Strengthen California’s nation-leading School Meals For All program by improving Direct Certification to fully maximize federal provisions

We applaud and urge additional action to find savings from smart solutions to public safety through closing empty prisons and permanently making California’s revenue system more equitable by ensuring wealthy corporations pay their fair share.

We urge continued action to restore and advance IMAGINE priorities, including:

Cut of Free Tax Preparation & Outreach to $12 million, from $20 million,
Delay of Food For All older adults regardless of immigration status,
Pass-through of child support to current CalWORKs families, and
Continuous Medi-Cal coverage to young children.

Finally we are concerned, based on the information released so far, that in constructing a multi-year agreement, freezing program funding at prior utilization could:

Lead to funding levels insufficient to meet real program needs given rising caseloads, especially in 2025-26, and
Be used to establish lower baselines that make it more challenging to readjust funding levels to true community needs – as happened following the Great Recession.

We recognize and celebrate the shared values of the Administration and Legislature to address the root causes of poverty and systemic racism. The significant actions taken during this Administration toward the Governor’s North Star to end child poverty underscore that the constraints faced this year have been due to limited resources, not a lack of commitment.

While we’re disappointed that this budget hasn’t provided the opportunity to do even more to achieve that goal, we express our full support for the Legislature’s proposal to preserve progress and prevent what would be irreversible harm from child poverty.

We are eager to work with all stakeholders to ensure that these actions are solidified in the final budget agreement. Together, we can build a California where every child is valued and free.

End Child Poverty in California (ECPCA) is a campaign jointly sponsored by GRACE End Child Poverty Institute and GRACE (Gather, Respect, Advocate, Change, Engage).

GRACE End Child Poverty Institute is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that uses advocacy, legislative advocacy and mobilization programs to achieve its mission. The mission of GRACE End Child Poverty is to make a positive difference in the lives of low-income families and their children through value-based collaborations and by formulating, implementing, and expanding measures to reduce barriers to full personal development and economic stability.

RELEASE: Governor and Legislature Must Adopt Final California Budget that Prevents Harm To Children and Families

Posted on May 10, 2024 at 4:10 pm.

Written by Stephanie Liem

May 10, 2024, Pasadena, Calif.

“This is the year in which California can and must put our values to the test, prioritizing above all else the most vulnerable children and families. We look forward to working with the Legislature and Governor to achieve a budget with no cuts to children and families experiencing poverty.”

Shimica Gaskins, President & CEO of GRACE & End Child Poverty California

Just two years ago, child poverty was at historic lows through a combination of landmark state and federal actions during the pandemic. Now we see the dramatic, preventable, rise in overall child poverty. With this uptick, we also see deep racial disparities.

Based on our current analysis of today’s May Revision CA Budget summary, we commend the continued progress on previous anti-poverty investments, and the prevented cuts. At the start of his administration, the Governor made ending child poverty his North Star. Actions by the Administration and Legislature over the past several years have proven those values.

However, the May Revise includes significant proposed cuts to the safety net, including to CalWORKs, foster youth support, and immigrant services, as well as delays to food aid and child care.

Positive news in the Governor’s May Revise:

Reaching CalWORKs grant levels that are at least 50% of the federal poverty levels for all families, which helps lift families out of deep poverty
Launching “SUN Bucks” summer EBT food support. SUN Bucks are the first new federal entitlement in a generation. This builds on and sustains California’s path-breaking school-meals-for-all and anti-poverty tax credits.

Proposed Eliminations Include at Least:

CalWORKs:
- $47.1M ongoing cut to the Home Visiting Program (45%).
- $126.6M permanent elimination of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services funding.
- $272M one-time cut to the Single Allocation.
- Including January proposed $1.2 billion double-cut to CalWORKs and the Safety Net Reserve, this is at least some $1.75 billion in cuts to CalWORKs
$94.7M eliminating the In-Home Supportive Services undocumented expansion for all ages.

Proposed Delays Include at Least:

Implementation of Food for All for elderly undocumented seniors under the California Food Assistance Program is now scheduled to begin automation in 2026-27, with benefits set to start in 2027-28. This marks a 2-year delay from its original October 2025 date.
Indefinitely halts and conditions on future revenues the promised expansion of over 200,000 child care slots, limiting the expansion to 119,000 slots.

2022 Trigger Investments not in the May Revise Include:

Continuous Medi-Cal Coverage for Children Aged 0 through 4.
Child Support Pass-Through to Currently Assisted CalWORKs Families.

We know that fiscally, cuts to the safety net are proven to backfire by pushing children into deeper poverty.

It’s our job to understand what the numbers on the ledger mean. For families facing poverty, these programs are a lifeline. Often they are all that stand between homelessness, family separation, deportation, and irreparable harm to our children from toxic deep poverty.

“This may not be the year to create new programs and close loopholes in our safety net, which is disappointing given the high levels of child poverty across California,” said GRACE & End Child Poverty CA CEO Shimica Gaskins.

However, we cannot repeat the failed austerity cuts of the Great Recession. Those cuts proved that if safety net cuts are made, it will be years – if not a decade – to regain ground. We fought hard to get where we are today in 2024. We cannot go back.

We know that the Governor and Legislature have shared values to lift children out of poverty. We will fight against these cuts and stand ready to provide solutions to prevent irreversible harm.

In addition, we support ongoing commitments made to our workforce, and underscore that increases to minimum wages are among the best tools for families to exit poverty, and will protect some communities from some cuts proposed in this budget.

We also stand with the Governor, legislative leaders, mayors, county boards of supervisors and over 550 organizations in opposing the draconian California Business Round Table (CBRT) Taxpayer Deception Act Ballot Proposal. If enacted, it will immediately and permanently worsen this problem while pushing many solutions out of reach.

RELEASE: Chairs Thompson and Stabenow Introduce Farm Bill Frameworks

Posted on May 3, 2024 at 12:04 pm.

Written by Stephanie Liem

[PASADENA, CALIF., UNITED STATES, May 2, 2024] — CAFB and GRACE/End Child Poverty Urge California Members to reject cuts and Instead Strengthen SNAP

This week, House and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairs Rep. Thompson and Sen. Stabenow released starkly different frameworks outlining their vision for the next Farm Bill. While Sen. Stabenow’s plan lays out a promising plan to protect and strengthen our country’s most important anti-hunger program — SNAP, or CalFresh in California – Rep. Thompson’s plan proposes deep, shortsighted, and harmful cuts to SNAP that will worsen hunger for the more than 5 million Californians who rely on the program today.

Specifically, Chair Thompson’s proposal includes forcing cost neutral reevaluations which will prevent the USDA from being able to make much needed periodic updates to the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), which is the basis for SNAP and other nutrition programs like The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and Summer EBT. In no uncertain terms, this would cut SNAP by about $30 billion over the next decade by restricting future updates to only count for inflation, ignoring science-based changes to dietary guidelines.

Hungry Californians would be harmed the most: Approximately $3.6 billion, or 12% of the $30 billion cut to SNAP would be taken from the 5 million Californians who spend SNAP benefits at 23,874 authorized EBT retailers across our state. This represents a loss of as much as $6.46 billion in total economic activity, hurting farmers, farmworkers, truckers, grocers, and others across our critical food sector.

Even after the recent TFP reevaluation, SNAP benefits still only average $6 per person per day – barely more than a cup of coffee, and still fall short of the cost of low-income meals in 98% of California counties.

Forcing cost neutral Thrifty Food Plan reevaluations is not only a SNAP cut but will also impact other critical nutrition programs like the TEFAP and Summer EBT. These simultaneous cuts will hamper the ability of food banks to serve their communities, and will increase hunger for children during summer months when school is out.

In sharp contrast to Chair Thompson’s proposal, Chair Stabenow lays out a forward-looking framework that builds on several of SNAP’s strengths to prevent hunger, fundamentally by preserving future Thrifty Food Plan re-evaluations, in addition to:

Removing the punitive drug felon ban and better supporting people coming home from incarceration to apply for SNAP, proven to support a healing re-entry to community.
Permanently ensuring that SNAP recipients who are victims of benefit theft such as “skimming” that has ravaged Californains can have their benefits replaced.
Exploring pathways for SNAP recipients to purchase hot and prepared foods.
Finally securing a pathway to SNAP for Puerto Rico.

At a time when 1 in 5 households in California are experiencing hunger with deep disparities for communities of color, we call on the California Congressional Delegation to prioritize bold policy solutions through:

The Closing the Meal Gap Act (H.R. 3037 Adams / S. 1336 Gillibrand) which would move SNAP benefit calculations to the more realistic Low Cost Food Plan
The Improving Access to Nutrition Act (H.R. 1510 Lee / S. 2435 Welch) which would repeals SNAP’s harsh and counterproductive three-month time limit for out-of-work Americans and improves SNAP access for families working their way up the economic ladder
The Enhance Access To SNAP Act (H.R. 3183 Gomez / S. 1488 Gillibrand) which would eliminate the outdated and unfair SNAP restrictions for college students

SNAP Emergency Allotments (EAs) allowed Californians to buy more and a greater variety of food, helped families weather income fluctuations, and stabilized households. Now that EAs have ended, food insecurity has intensified, households are making tradeoffs between food and other expenses, physical and mental health have declined, and local economies have suffered.

We urge all California Members of Congress to reject any cuts to SNAP, including to the Thrifty Food Plan, and to build on the Senate framework to strengthen SNAP and the emergency feeding programs as our nation’s proven anti-hunger safety net.

End Child Poverty in California (ECPCA) is a campaign jointly sponsored by GRACE End Child Poverty Institute and GRACE (Gather, Respect, Advocate, Change, Engage).

RELEASE: GRACE & End Child Poverty CA Joint Statement with CalWIC Association on Opposing SNAP Restrictions and Supporting Fully Funding WIC

Posted on February 28, 2024 at 10:14 am.

Written by Stephanie Liem

[PASADENA, CALIF., UNITED STATES, February 28, 2024] — Statement attributable to Karen Farley, Executive Director of the California WIC Association, and Shimica Gaskins, President and CEO of GRACE/End Child Poverty California, regarding the Fiscal Year 2024 bill for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration:

We urge Congress to both fully fund the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and reject any efforts promoting a policy of limiting food choice in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

SNAP is the country’s most important anti-hunger program and the nutritional benefits of this program have been well documented. It has also been well documented that the best way to improve the nutrition of low-income households is to reduce stigma in the current program and to increase the benefits provided in the program. The proposal to pilot restricting food purchases endeavors to do neither.

WIC served nearly a million Californians in 2023, and more than half (54%) of all infants born in California were certified by WIC in 2018. Full funding for WIC is urgently needed to ensure continuity of the nutrition, breastfeeding, and other critical supports that pregnant and parenting adults, and babies, rely upon every day.

Funding for WIC is in no way related to funding for SNAP, and the programs should not be pitted against one another.

Policymakers have a responsibility to keep America’s children fed and ensure their long-term health and success. WIC must be fully funded, and SNAP recipients must be allowed to continue make their food purchasing decisions based on the needs of their family.

End Child Poverty in California (ECPCA) is a campaign jointly sponsored by GRACE End Child Poverty Institute and GRACE (Gather, Respect, Advocate, Change, Engage).

RELEASE: GRACE & End Child Poverty CA Statement on Proposed Federal Tax Deal

Posted on January 16, 2024 at 4:27 pm.

Written by Stephanie Liem

ECPCA & GRACE urge Congress to improve the poverty-fighting potential of this package and to adopt proposal, benefitting more than 2 million children in California left out of the CTC under current law

[PASADENA, CALIF., UNITED STATES, January 16, 2024] — Statement attributable to Shimica Gaskins, President & CEO, GRACE & End Child Poverty California (ECPCA):

Today, chairs of the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee announced a deal that would be transformative to roughly 77% of the children nationwide whose families have been unable to claim the federal Child Tax Credit (CTC) since the pandemic-era expansion expired in 2021. Biden expanded the CTC under the American Rescue Plan Act, giving cash to families who needed it most and directly benefiting over 8 million children in California alone. This version of the CTC – one that offered larger credit amounts, was inclusive of children regardless of immigration status, fully refundable, and without an earnings requirement – remains our North Star. We remind stakeholders of the historic rise in poverty after its expiration and that ending poverty is a policy choice.

The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 has meaningful restorations that make the refundable portion of the credit larger for families, especially those with multiple children. Initial estimates are that once the deal takes full effect, over half a million children would be lifted out of poverty, likely including tens of thousands of California children.

Given the proven record of the enhanced CTC, this deal falls short of what our families need and deserve – including children with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs), full refundability, especially for low-income families, removing the arbitrary $2,500 earnings requirement, and increasing the overall size of the credit. Under current law, 98% of children in families in the lowest 20% tax bracket do not receive the full CTC, and the Wyden-Smith proposal only brings that figure down to 93%.

Ultimately, this means that more unrestricted cash will largely not flow to the lowest-income families. Our families deserve more, and we know Congress is up to the task – we proved as much in 2021. These important, yet modest, improvements in the CTC are also paired with tax breaks to corporations which are projected to balloon in cost over time and threaten the parity of this package.

We therefore urge members of Congress to improve the poverty-fighting potential of this package and quickly take action to pass this proposal, benefitting more than 2 million children in California left out of the CTC under current law. This deal is an important step towards ending poverty nationwide, and we thank the California members fighting to maximize the poverty-fighting focus of these provisions.

Congress should prioritize investments in our nation’s children on their own, and should not need to be tied to other provisions that do not advance a more redistributive system of revenues and investments. Nevertheless we urge Congress to swiftly enact these provisions in order to ensure children and families benefit in time to file their taxes, then to continue making strides that bring us back to the expanded CTC under ARPA, providing what families truly need and advance an end to child poverty.

Infographic Source:
Hughes, Joe. (2024). Children Not Receiving Full Child Tax Credit Under Current Law vs. Proposal [Infographic]. Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. https://itep.org/congress-tax-deal-child-tax-credit-corporate-tax-breaks/

End Child Poverty in California (ECPCA) is a campaign jointly sponsored by GRACE End Child Poverty Institute and GRACE (Gather, Respect, Advocate, Change, Engage).

RELEASE: GRACE & ECPCA Are Pleased Gov. Newsom’s Proposed Budget Protects Anti-Poverty Investments

Posted on January 10, 2024 at 3:28 pm.

Written by Stephanie Liem

Statement on Governor Newsom’s Proposed 2024-25 Budget

ECPCA & GRACE urge adoption of revenues and investments needed to advance a more equitable California

[PASADENA, CALIF., UNITED STATES, January 10, 2024] — Statement attributable to Shimica Gaskins, President & CEO, GRACE & End Child Poverty California (ECPCA):

GRACE and ECPCA dare to dream of a future in which every child is valued and free. We applaud Governor Newsom’s Proposed 2024-25 Budget for protecting important investments for children and families and continuing critical progress toward making our shared vision a reality.

From day one, Governor Newsom has made ending child poverty his north star – and today is no different. We thank Governor Newsom and his Administration for continuing that commitment, again rejecting harmful austerity cuts and recognizing that when the state falls on hard times, the programs that help lift children and families out of poverty are needed more than ever.

In particular, the January budget reaffirms ongoing commitments to community-informed ECPCA IMAGINE priorities, including:

Universal School Meals so all our children are nourished
The California Earned Income Tax Credit and Young Child Tax Credit so families have much-needed financial security
Aligning systems from Cradle to Career to create freedom and opportunity for families as they raise their children
A national pilot opportunity to advance a reimagined CalWORKs program that centers family’s needs and dignity

In the effort to resolve the state’s budget problem, we will be looking closely at the proposed withdrawal from the Safety Net Reserve and the proposed cuts to the CalWORKs Family Stabilization Program (FSP) and Housing Supplement for Foster Youth in Supervised Independent Living Placements. The FSP was created to ensure housing, mental health, safety, and family stability for some of our most vulnerable families with children. It is a program CalWORKs parents and advocates have prioritized for expansion.

Governor Newsom and legislative leaders have much to be proud of in creating and strengthening programs proven to prevent child poverty and build broad prosperity. These measures, along with federal investments made during the pandemic, drove child poverty to historic lows and closed long-standing racial inequities. As important as those gains are, income inequality in California continues to grow, and California still has the highest poverty rate of any state in the nation.

Our federal and state policymakers must continue to take decisive action. The good news is that the state and federal governments have unequivocally shown that poverty is a policy choice – and the state budget is a fundamental opportunity to advance a poverty-free future.

We urge the Governor and Legislature to continue to take the actions needed to lift every California child and family out of poverty. This requires a combination of revenues to ensure that wealthy corporations pay their fair share and investments in programs proven to lift children and families out of poverty and reverse long-standing racial inequities.

Again, we thank Governor Newsom for his continued leadership to put wealth to work. We ask the Governor to ensure that the values of California’s budget, both in revenues and investments, prioritize the future free from poverty we know is possible.

We look forward to engaging with all stakeholders throughout the budget process.

End Child Poverty in California (ECPCA) is a campaign jointly sponsored by GRACE End Child Poverty Institute and GRACE (Gather, Respect, Advocate, Change, Engage).

GRACE & End Child Poverty CA Statements – April 26, 2023

Posted on April 26, 2023 at 3:42 pm.

Written by End Child Poverty CA

Celebrating the CA Senate Budget Plan and Denouncing U.S. House Debt Ceiling Bill

GRACE & End Child Poverty California Celebrate Senate Budget Plan

Urge Adoption of Revenues & Investments Needed for a More Equitable California

April 26, 2023 / / Pasadena, CA

Statement attributable to Shimica Gaskins, President & CEO, GRACE/End Child Poverty California:

“We at GRACE dare to dream of a future in which every child is valued and free, and the Senate Budget Plan released today by Pro Tem Atkins and Budget Chair Skinner would make enormous progress in achieving that goal. We applaud the Senate for embracing a comprehensive approach that would move California forward together toward a more equitable future through a combination of revenues to ensure that wealthy corporations pay their fair share, and investments in programs proven to lift children and families out of poverty and reverse long-standing racial inequities.

We are thrilled that the Senate Budget Plan would adopt many community -informed IMAGINE priorities, including critical investments to:

CalWORKS: End deep child poverty, remove the WPR penalty, support sanction reform, invest in menstrual equity
Increase the minimum CalEITC payment to $275
Child care: invest in rates to help stabilize providers and protect families from harmful fees
CalFresh: provide a $50 minimum, prevent the 3-month time limit, and achieve Food For All
School meals: maximize the new Summer EBT program and support kitchen infrastructure
Homelessness prevention and affordable housing – landmark $1 billion ongoing
Support schools, bolster health programs, and much more.

We again thank the Senate for their continued leadership to put wealth to work and ensure that the values of California’s budget, both revenues and investments, prioritize the future free from poverty we know is possible. We urge the Legislature and Administration to adopt these critical proposals in the 2023-24 Budget, and look forward to engaging with all stakeholders as the budget process continues.”

GRACE & End Child Poverty California Statement on House Debt Ceiling Bill

House bill would worsen poverty for children and families and deepen racial inequities. Urge Senate and President to reject this approach, and invest in programs proven to lift children and families out of poverty.

April 26, 2023 / / Pasadena, CA

Statement attributable to Shimica Gaskins, President and CEO, GRACE/End Child Poverty California:

“The House bill passed today includes unconscionable policies that balance the budget on the backs of the very Califfornians with low-incomes that the federal government should prioritize. It is a shocking, anti-family bill that would reverse the historic gains in reducing child poverty – achieved just two years ago – and deepen already unjust inequities for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and other disenfranchised communities.

The bill would make across the board 22% cuts that harm children and families, and cap annual spending growth at 1% for key domestic federal programs such as WIC, housing, veterans’ health care, child care and preschool, public health, Pell Grants and college work-study, K-12 education, and environmental protection, among many others.

Perhaps the most odious element is that the bill doubles down on punitive, failed work requirements across the safety net, policies rooted in racist & sexist stereotypes that families with low-incomes need to be coerced to work in order to receive basic assistance:

Deepen already perverse incentives for states to deny cash aid to families in need of support in the name of success, while forcing more parents accessing TANF into rigid, ineffective programs and pushing families deeper into poverty because they are unable to document that they meet narrow requirements. Without cash benefits to meet their basic needs, more families likely will end up homeless or have their children removed and placed in the child welfare system.
Worsen already cruel time limits by risking SNAP food assistance for 136,000 older adults across California, and take away the ability for states to use the bank of individual exemptions that has been a critical backstop to limit the harm of this awful policy
Threaten health care for nearly 3 million Californians with low incomes – 22% of Medi-Cal enrollees

We thank the many Members of the California delegation who spoke out against and opposed this legislation. We thank President Biden for issuing his veto message on the bill, which highlights many of the harmful policies that would punish Californians with low-incomes. We urge the Senate and President to reject this approach, and instead build on the proven pathways to lift children and families out of poverty and advance a more equitable future.”

RELEASE: End Child Poverty California Statement on Governor Newsom’s Proposed 2023-24 Budget

Posted on January 10, 2023 at 2:37 pm.

Written by End Child Poverty CA

We Commend the Governor for Protecting Progress, and Call For Continued Action to End Poverty

January 10, 2023 / / Pasadena, CA

Statement attributable to Shimica Gaskins, President and CEO of GRACE and End Child Poverty California:

Today, Governor Newsom released his 2023-24 Proposed Budget Summary. We commend Governor Newsom for his clear call to prioritize Californians on the front lines of economic hardship, a theme he echoed throughout his press conference, including protecting vital programs proven to prevent poverty and build prosperity.

We further applaud the Governor for some of the key decisions made to balance the state’s budget given the fiscal conditions. This includes the prudent choice to withdraw the $750 million payment on the state’s outstanding federal loans for unemployment benefits, which the LAO noted would “provide no near-term economic relief to employers or workers.”

We urge the Governor and Legislature to build on this strong first step to take actions needed to address the moral imperative to lift every California child and family out of poverty. As Langston Hughes reminds us, a dream deferred is a dream denied.

We must act now to make sure all our children are valued, healthy, secure, and free from poverty.

The Governor wisely proposes increased support for families experiencing homelessness, to help keep families housed, as well as nation-leading health for all, in this year’s budget. He offers new proposals such as the Health and Human Services Innovation Accelerator Initiative, that if includes CalWORKs and CalFresh, could make bold improvements to access of critical safety net programs.

Those investments build on transformative actions taken during the pandemic including baby bonds, health care, tax credits for families, cradle to career supports, and other End Child Poverty Plan recommendations.

It is not an overstatement that those gains, and the lives of California’s children living in extreme poverty, are at risk. They are struggling to survive as their families face the toxic stress of inflation, food insecurity, homelessness and other challenges as key federal interventions like the expiration of the expanded Child Tax Credit that brought poverty to historic lows and closed racial inequities.

While we continue to call on Congress and the White House to take continued action, California must continue to lead. Budgets are statements of our values, especially in a challenging year.

We again commend the Governor for protecting critical progress made, and call on all budget stakeholders to maximize opportunities to advance the future free from poverty we know is possible. GRACE and End Child Poverty California look forward to working with the Governor, Administration, and Legislature to ensure that investments to end poverty are prioritized – our children and families simply cannot wait.

For a summary of California’s latest investment in supporting our low-income children and families, read our recap of the 2022-23 legislative session and ECPCA priorities below.

CA-Legislature-Imagine-Investments-2022 Download

RELEASE: Western Regional Anti-Hunger Joint Statement Opposing SNAP Cut Offset in the 2023 Federal Omnibus

Posted on December 20, 2022 at 12:11 pm.

Written by End Child Poverty CA

December 20, 2022

Our organizations are members of the Western Regional Anti-Hunger Consortium (WRAHC), a coalition of anti-hunger groups across the Western United States. We write with deep appreciation by leaders in Congress to secure badly needed investments in programs that prevent hunger in the end of year omnibus spending bill. This includes some of the first improvements to child nutrition programs in over ten years. We cannot, however, support an offset to create a Summer EBT program by cutting SNAP benefits, and urge Congress not to consider any sources that are dedicated to existing anti-poverty programs.

The pandemic proved unequivocally that hunger and poverty are a policy choice, and that government can solve these crises when it acts. In 2021, child poverty fell to a record low of 5.2%, and food insecurity for households with children fell to a two-decade low.¹ Expanded federal response to the pandemic-induced economic crisis, including Emergency Allotments provided through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and temporarily available nationwide school meals for all, made key contributions to that success.²

The West has long led the way in identifying the need for³ and championing^4,5 the effort to create a permanent, nation-wide Summer EBT program that would provide a grocery card to children in low-income families during the summer, the hungriest months for children. It has been shown as one of the most effective interventions to fight child hunger.⁶

As much as we support Summer EBT, we cannot support the offset to cut SNAP by prematurely ending the Emergency Allotments, which will on average mean a loss of $82 per person a month.⁷ This is consistent with our position against the 2010 Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act that funded improved school meal nutrition standards by prematurely sunsetting the SNAP boost from the ARRA. This created a major hunger cliff,⁸ which contributed to the decade long period of elevated hunger and poverty.⁹

These programs are extremely valuable on their own merits and should not be pitted against one another. SNAP is the first and best line of defense against hunger for these children and their families. And for many children in low-income families, meals offered through child nutrition programs in and out of school provide invaluable nutrition assistance. Taking money from one nutrition program that benefits low-income children and families to pay for another does little to alleviate the struggle with hunger these families are experiencing especially in these times when food prices have increased 13% over the last year.¹⁰

Additionally, reducing SNAP benefits now will be more harmful for our economy which stands on the brink of recession. Research shows that in a slowing economy, every $1 of SNAP spent generates between $1.50 to $1.80 in economic activity or contributes $1.54 billion to our GDP.¹¹ Ending the Emergency Allotments means less spending in local food economies, the loss of jobs, and most importantly, less food on the family dinner table.

We urge Congress to pass an omnibus that includes comprehensive child nutrition reauthorization including long overdue improvements to the Community Eligibility Provision as well as establish nationwide permanent Summer EBT before the end of the 117th Congress, without cuts to SNAP or any other antipoverty programs as an offset. We believe this is the best way to ensure that all children have access to healthy meals through SNAP and child nutrition programs.

Sincerely,

Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition

California Association of Food Banks

Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations

Equal Rights Advocates

Food Bank of Northern Nevada

GRACE & End Child Poverty CA

Hunger Free Colorado

Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force

Northwest Harvest

Nourish California

Oregon Food Bank