CHN just released another edition of the Human Needs Report. Read on for the latest on the possibility of another COVID-19 response package, continued work on the 2020 Census, a victory for SNAP recipients, and more.
Archives: Voices
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship October 23, 2020
The 3 million kids are missing edition. The coronavirus pandemic has not hit everyone equally. We know that Latinx and Black households are most adversely affected, both in the workplace and in susceptibility to COVID-19. Women, too, have been hit hard, the pandemic’s effects exacerbated by their familiar role as primary caregivers as well as their over-representation in the decimated service industries. But there is a whole other population at risk – children and young people. This week, a groundbreaking study was released that estimates 3 million of the most educationally marginalized children have not seen the inside of a classroom – virtual or in-person – since last March, when most schools shut down. Many of these 3 million are kids with disabilities, English learners, students in foster care, migrant students, and homeless students.
CLASP: Public policy was already failing young people — pandemic is making it worse
We can’t wait for economic justice. We can’t wait for healing and wellbeing. We can’t wait for safe communities. It is time for a New Deal for Youth that responds to the historic roots and current scale of the crisis. When the once-in-a-lifetime catastrophe is over, our future as a nation will depend on how intentionally we support and invest in this generation.
Report: Even before the pandemic, the number of uninsured children rose, wiping out gains made under ACA
The number of children without health coverage in the U.S. increased by about 726,000 between 2016 and 2019, bringing the total to more than 4 million uninsured children and reversing years of national progress, a new report finds. The report, issued earlier this month by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, concludes that many of the gains in coverage made as a result of the Affordable Care Act’s major expansions, implemented in 2014, have now been eliminated.
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship October 16, 2020
The over the cliff edition. President Trump and Senate Republicans, exuberant over a certain Supreme Court vacancy but considerably less so when it comes to helping Americans to eat or pay rent, are prepared to push millions over the cliff. More than 13.4 million people currently receiving unemployment benefits stand to lose assistance come Dec. 31. Three out of every four states have run out of money to pay for Trump’s Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) Program. New poverty data shows the number of poor people in this country increasing dramatically since May. And, as always, not everyone is being tossed over the cliff equally. Black people and Latinx are more than twice as likely as white people to be poor. Both groups disproportionately work in industries hard-hit by the recession and may face barriers to aid – if it even exists.
The 2020 Human Needs Hero Reception: Apart, and yet together
We were apart, and yet for one splendid evening we were together. On the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 7, the Coalition on Human Needs held its 17th annual Human Needs Hero Reception. The event, organized by CHN Field and Events Coordinator Nicolai Haddal, was held virtually, for obvious reasons. That didn’t stop more than 100 of CHN’s friends, supporters, and allies, members and partners from coming together in celebration and camaraderie.
CHN opposes confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett in letter to U.S. Senators
CHN Executive Director Deborah Weinstein this week called upon the U.S. Senate to reject the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court, citing Barrett’s past rulings and statements in five main areas: access to health care, immigration, workers’ rights, antidiscrimination, and criminal justice. In her 7-page letter, Weinstein also objects strongly to the Senate’s rush to action on the Barrett nomination while refusing to take action on a COVID-19 relief bill.
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship October 9, 2020
“Altered state” edition. President Trump, infected by COVID-19 and then taking a number of powerful medications, called off COVID-19 negotiations, then urged continued talks for a limited package, then was quoted as calling for a bigger package. He was interviewed saying he was cured by his drugs, but that he might not have needed them, and suggested that he was not contagious – even as more than 30 people in his immediate orbit became infected. Speaker Pelosi, who was attempting to negotiate relief, speculated that the President was “in an altered state.” Hard to tell, but two themes were emerging: resistance to even compromise levels of state and local aid sought by Democrats and whipsaw reactions to Wall Street downturns, as stocks plunged whenever it appeared there would be no deal.
Make a (healthy) plan to vote.
This election is too important to wait until the last moment. We all must take extra effort to plan ahead. We all must make sure we don’t let this opportunity to stand up for our shared priorities and vote to protect human needs go by. We can’t afford not to vote
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship October 2, 2020
The Americans are broke edition. Nearly 180 million Americans face the possibility of having their utilities cut off. More and more can’t make rent or put food on the table. Just yesterday, more airline workers lost their jobs than at any point in U.S. aviation history. And at Disney, once the “happiest place on Earth,” 28,000 just-laid-off workers aren’t so happy. State governments are facing a combined shortfall of $555 billion over the next few years. It is not too late to tell Senators to do the jobs they were elected to do – protect the American people.
Economic recovery, food insecurity and COVID-19: ‘To err on the side of too little is more dangerous than to err on the side of too much’
It’s no surprise that a rising number of Americans are turning towards the government for financial support. Since the pandemic began, we’ve seen ways of furloughs and layoffs; while some jobs have returned, the nation’s economic outlook remains dire. Still, the Senate delays action on extending assistance. To delay desperately needed relief by choosing to leave Washington when so many people are facing loss of earnings and hunge shows a remarkable lack of concern during a time of great and dire need.
CLASP: ICE must stop enforcement during the pandemic
On March 18, 2020, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced it would largely be halting immigration enforcement in response to the spread of COVID-19 and noted that immigrants should not avoid seeking health care for fear of deportation. Despite the very damaging threats to public health, ICE resumed immigration enforcement in mid-July. Just last month, ICE arrested Alicia Flores Gonzalez, a mother of four U.S. citizen children, and within 24 hours ICE deported her from the country. Ms. Flores was apprehended by immigration enforcement after dropping her daughter off at child care and going to work.