Archives: Voices

Trump’s Public Charge proposal: A ‘sicker, hungrier, poorer nation’

Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director of the Coalition on Human Needs, issued the following statement Monday in response to the Trump Administration’s proposed Department of Homeland Security Public Charge rule regarding immigrants: “The Trump Administration’s proposed Public Charge rule is the latest in a series of unconscionable attacks on immigrants and…

I know West Virginia kids depend on SNAP. I was one.

Editor’s note: The following op-ed, by Teresa Blake-Allen, appeared in the Sept. 20, 2018 edition of the Charleston Gazette-Mail. Blake-Allen is a school teacher at South Harrison Middle School in Lost Creek, West Virginia. By Teresa Blake-Allen Congress is debating the future of a program that is key to feeding…

Child Poverty Should Be a National Outrage

Editor’s note:This post was written by Bruce Lesley, President of First Focus, Rev. Douglas Greenaway, President and CEO of the National WIC Association, and John Bouman, President of Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. It was previously posted on Medium on September 17. Whether you have children or not, it’s…

Resources from around the Coalition: 2017 Census poverty data

Editor’s note: The following blog post was written by Makenna Whitworth, CHN’s Fall 2018 intern. On Wednesday, September 12 and Thursday, September 13, the U.S. Census Bureau released the latest national, state, and local data about income, poverty, and health insurance. Since then, CHN and its members have been busy assessing…

Hurricane Trump

As Hurricane Florence prepares to make landfall somewhere in the Carolinas, many who live along the Eastern Seaboard are questioning whether federal authorities are prepared to help them weather the disaster. And President Trump doesn’t seem to be helping – neither do reports out this week about alleged corrupt conduct…

Kavanaugh Hearings: Justice Kennedy Was a Voice of Reason on Youth Justice, Now What?

Editor’s note: This piece was written by Brian Evans, State Campaigns Director at Campaign for Youth Justice. It was originally published on CFYJ’s blog on September 5.  CHN is urging national-scope organizations to sign a letter opposing Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. Additional signers will be accepted until 11am…

You can teach kids hard work, but feed them first

Editor’s note: The following piece is cross-posted from OtherWords. Growing up, I hated being on “food stamps.” I hated being walked into a welfare office and inspected, queried to make sure we were really our mother’s children. I hated standing in line at the grocery store, knowing we weren’t going…

President Trump’s Labor Day contempt for workers

It’s Labor Day Weekend. President Trump has just ordered a pay freeze for federal workers to start in January. Although of course his action is particularly brazen coming just before a national celebration of workers, it is far from the only expression of contempt for workers coming out of the…

Opposing Kavanaugh’s Confirmation

“[Judge Kavanaugh’s] opinions threaten people across the economic spectrum, but their consequences will fall especially heavily on the poor and near poor, communities of color, immigrants, and people with disabilities.” CHN doesn’t usually work on judicial appointments. But we’ve looked at Judge Kavanaugh’s record and have concluded his positions pose…

Hurricane Maria deadlier than Katrina, new study finds

What many Puerto Ricans have long suspected is now official: Hurricane Maria was the deadliest hurricane in modern history to strike the U.S., leading to many more deaths than originally estimated. The government of Puerto Rico this week officially embraced a sweeping study conducted by researchers at George Washington University….

Head Smacker: States suing to end DACA would lose billions

As reported by our friends at the Center for American Progress (CAP), 10 states suing to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program stand to lose billions of dollars if they “win” their lawsuit. These states are arguing that they will lose money if DACA continues because of…