CHN just released another edition of the Human Needs Report. Read on for a breakdown of what’s in President Biden’s American Jobs Plan and FY22 budget request, a hate crimes bill moving in Congress, and more.
Archives: Voices
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship April 16, 2021
The infrastructure is more than roads and bridges edition. Infrastructure can be physical – roads, bridges, housing, broadband, and safe water, for example. But we also must invest in human infrastructure – care work and job training are prime examples. As the U.S. begins what experts fear could be a long and arduous trek to economic recovery, we have important choices to make. Will we go small, essentially applying a band-aid or two to an economy ravaged by pandemic and recession? Or will we make the sound and robust investments we need to rebuild in a way that would promote opportunity and racial and gender equality and make the post-World War II generations proud? The choice is ours. The path we choose will say much about who we are and our aspirations as a potentially great nation.
Has the Child Tax Credit finally come of age?
In 1992, the year Bill Clinton was elected President, the U.S. was struggling to emerge from the worst recession in a decade. But even before Clinton was a blip on any political pundit’s radar screen, something significant happened, the ramifications of which are about to be experienced – and in a very good way. In 1991, the bipartisan National Commission on Children recommended a $1,000 annual tax credit for every child through age 18 in response to slow wage growth, higher costs of living, and a growing tax burden for average households. Even families that earned too little to owe federal income taxes would get the refundable credit.
In housing and hunger, a return to decency at last
In recent weeks, the Biden Administration has taken two major steps that will allow 25,000 mixed-status families to remain in public housing and will help millions of Americans struggling with food insecurity put food on the table. Both steps reverse cruel decisions by the Trump Administration that disproportionately threatened people with low incomes, people of color, immigrants, and children.
What we can learn from a Universal Basic Income for the expanded Child Tax Credit
A basic income pilot in Stockton, California provided $500 monthly payments to 125 residents with no strings attached. From improved family wellbeing and financial stability to an increase in full-time employment, these positive impacts hold hope for the refundable Child Tax Credit (CTC).
2021 State of America’s Children: ‘Our Children Are Not Immune’
A Black U.S. public school student was suspended every four seconds in 2019, based on a 180-day school year. Every 28 seconds, a Latinx student dropped out of high school. And every 33 minutes, An American Indian/Alaskan Native student was arrested. Those are just some nuggets of information included in the latest State of America’s Children report, an annual report published by the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF).
The Biden Economic Recovery Plan: A “Once-in-a-Generation” Investment
President Biden is right to call for a “once-in-a-generation investment” to assure that we can build a lasting economic recovery. Our nation has been buffeted by multiple emergencies in the past year, including the pandemic, natural disasters, and electrical grid failure. They have all shown how unprepared we are to protect our people, our businesses, and our environment. We cannot prevent every emergency, but we can and must protect against loss of life and economic catastrophe for millions of people. We can and must make ourselves more resilient.
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship April 2, 2021
The fourth surge fears edition. “Impending doom.” Those off-script words were issued this week by CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky who warned of spring spikes in COVID-19 cases across the country. Already we are seeing rising caseloads in many states, particularly in the Northeast and Upper Midwest. Overall, daily infection rates in the U.S. are much higher than they were two weeks ago – although, thankfully, not nearly as high as they were in January, which witnessed the largest death toll so far in the pandemic.
As anti-voter measures flood state legislatures, activists search for ways to reverse the tide
As a number of swing and Republican-leaning states rush to consider legislation that would make it harder to cast ballots, pro-voter advocates increasingly are calling for corporations to weigh in against the measures – and are urging boycotts if they don’t. According to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, as of Feb. 19, 2021, legislators in 43 states have carried over, prefiled, or introduced more than 250 bills that would make it harder to vote – more than seven times the number of restrictive bills compared to roughly this time last year.
How the American Rescue Plan will help domestic abuse survivors
The first time, Davida’s boyfriend hit her, she did exactly what experts say a person in her situation should do: she called the police. The 38-year-old North Carolina woman left the apartment they shared, filed a complaint in court, and obtained a protective order. Today, with the help of a career-readiness program at Sanctuary for Families, a shelter and service provider, Davida has succeeded in turning an internship into a part-time job. But a year after her boyfriend upended Davida and her son’s lives with a single wanton act of violence, she and her son are still homeless. “Every day I wake up, I’m starting over,” she said.
Survey: White students much more likely to receive in-person learning during pandemic
White students are much more likely to be receiving in-person learning than minority students, revealing yet another form of racial disparity during the pandemic, stark new data released this week show. The U.S. Department of Education this week released the first in a series of school surveys aimed at providing a national view of learning during the pandemic. The survey showed that the percentage of students still attending school virtually may be higher than previously thought.
Hunger in the U.S. Military: ‘Families have been struggling with this for a long time’
COVID-19 has caused hardship among the nation’s vulnerable, but a surprising issue is coming to the forefront that has been festering for many years; hunger in military families. CBS News shared the story of Kay, a military spouse, who recently traveled to a food bank to feed her family of six. “It lasts a couple of days, maybe just because there are so many of us in the house,” said Kay. “I cannot feed my kids. I cannot make this vehicle payment because I had to feed my kids. It’s just unacceptable, really,”