Children's Defense Fund-California

🗣️ I’ve got a RECOGNITION!!!!

Freedom Schools is in session, and our Servant Leader Interns at are trained up and ready to create some magic this summer ✨✨

CDF-CA celebrates the work you will do this summer to support your incredible scholars and Freedom Schools community 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

It's not too late to register, join us Tuesday!

Register now! bit.ly/ws-VEDs

Join us NEXT WEEK for our second YouthStories.LA event!! This event is FREE and OPEN to the public.

If you missed our last one, this is an opportunity to learn about how young people used art and storytelling to track their path from school to juvenile camps and halls. Read their words and hear their voices as they highlight what could have been done to better support them instead of sending them to Probation.

Register now! bit.ly/ws-VEDs

What can YOU as a Freedom Schools leader hold for your Servant Leader Interns (SLIs) to keep them going?

Establishing a safe space for your SLIs to build community with Site Coordinators, Project Directors, Executive Directors and themselves is one of many key ingredients to hosting a successful Freedom Schools program for your scholars each summer. ☀️

Check out some of these offerings from a group of SLIs and think about how you can continue to cultivate opportunities for community building among your Freedom Schools staff.

Today and always, we support children's freedom to learn and encourage community leaders to rise up and stand for what's right. As we face an ongoing wave of censorship, book banning, and attacks on our multiracial democracy, we must do our part to make our voices heard.

Learn more about these attacks and how you can support children's freedom to learn on this national day of action. Check out this toolkit from our partners in the Right to Learn Coalition and share your activation today!

2024 F2L_Activation Guide Check out this Real Estate Flyer designed by aapolicyforum.

Did you hear the news?!?!

Taxpayers in California could save up to $832 million in filing fees thanks to IRS , a new, FREE online filing tool.

Run, don't walk to directfile.irs.gov, and save!

Tomorrow, CDF-CA Youth Justice Director Milinda Kakani will provide members of the California Senate her observations of the state's juvenile justice system
since the passage of Senate Bill 823 and the closure of the California Division of Juvenile Justice. The scheduled hearing will come just one day before a state board will decide whether two Los Angeles County juvenile facilities are unsuitable to house youth due to substandard conditions. | "We cannot fund or train our way out of
culture of control and exploitation." Click the link here to read our press release and learn more about how you can watch Milinda's testimony live: https://bit.ly/4bF9PfK

GOOD MORNING!!! Join us TODAY at Dyer Hall at LBCC's Pacific Coast College Campus as we team up with and LBUSD students & counselors to support Reimagined School Counseling!

Register with the QR code or join our livestream TODAY AT 4:30!! See you there!

YouthStories.LA was created over several years from incredible work and dedicated people that combined art and advocacy to hold LA County Probation accountable for its role in CA's school-to-jail track. Over the past several years, we partnered with , , and to shine light on school pushout in LA County. This project was created by youth leaders who created maps to track their schools, why they moved, the missing supports they needed, and the consequences of school instability.

Join us at the Robinson SPACE on Thurs. Oct. 19 as we "Dismantle the School-to-Jail Track" and empower young people to discuss the impact CA's youth criminal justice system has had on them.

🚨 ACTION ALERT - NO MORE CASH FOR CAGES🚨https://bit.ly/3PdFWsw
AB 695 would give LA County's juvenile facilities $1 BILLION! LA Probation has a long history of physically, emotionally, & sexually abusing kids inside LA’s halls & camps. AB 695 would give them money for superficial facility renovations. But the walls of these facilities did not abuse kids for decades, it was probation officers in a department that remains rooted in a culture of abuse and punishment.

CA is facing a budget deficit. Sinking $1 billion into LA county's failed juvenile halls is wasteful and irresponsible.

CLICK HERE TO URGE THE GOVERNOR TO VETO THIS DANGEROUS BILL: https://bit.ly/3PdFWsw

🚨 ACTION ALERT - NO MORE CASH FOR CAGES🚨

CLICK HERE TO EMAIL YOUR SENATOR TODAY: https://bit.ly/45J9sh4

AB 695 would give LA County's juvenile facilities $1 BILLION! LA Probation has a long history of physically, emotionally, & sexually abusing kids inside LA’s halls & camps. AB 695 would give them money for superficial facility renovations. But the walls of these facilities did not abuse kids for decades, it was probation officers in a department that remains rooted in a culture of abuse and punishment.

CA is facing a budget deficit. Sinking $1 billion into LA county's failed juvenile halls is wasteful and irresponsible.

🚨NO MORE CASH FOR CAGES🚨
AB 695 would give LA County's juvenile prisons $1 BILLION! Email your senator TODAY to tell them to vote NO on . Just click here to send an email:

#TakeAction with ActionButton ActionButton helps people take quick action to create powerful change.

A big announcement is coming soon! Stay tuned!

We don't know about you, but we're still smiling as we think about yesterday's . We're grateful to the many voices who came together to discuss the problem of censorship in education, and we are especially proud of the youth and young people who showed up to witness to their activism in their communities!

If young people can find the time to organize between classes, then adults can find the time to amplify their power and support them!

Assemblymember Corey Jackson Children's Defense Fund-Texas

It's been an incredible day at . Are you with us in L.A. or tuning in online? Tell us your favorite moment from the day so far!

| 📸: Leah Lowe/Alpha Media

You asked, we answered. Today's event in Los Angeles is now HYBRID! The event is 8:30am–2:30pm PST, so you've still got time to register!

Get the Zoom details here ➡️ https://childrensdefense-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YCvAi-R-SGeN1mcbZp7_TA #/registration

Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson

🚨 ACTION ALERT - NO MORE CASH FOR CAGES🚨
AB 695 would give LA County's juvenile facilities $1 BILLION!

CA is facing a budget deficit. Sinking $1 billion into LA county's failed juvenile halls is wasteful and irresponsible.

TAKE ACTION HERE:

Oppose AB 695 Action Alert (8.5 × 11 in) Check out this design designed by Team CDF Comms.

Did you know that it was just three years ago that Californian Christopher Rufo decided to make critical race theory the perfect liberal villain, inventing a so-called movement with the goal of undermining democracy itself?

He sought to do this primarily through a media campaign, combined with law and policy at the local, state, and federal level. According to UCLA School of Law’s Project CRT Forward, 750 anti-Black studies, Black history, and critical race theory bills, resolutions, executive orders, opinion letters, statements, and other measures been introduced since Rufo’s first appearance on Fox in September 2020.

Children's Defense Fund is deeply concerned about what these nakedly racist attacks mean for education, law, and public policy, especially for Black and Brown children and young people.

That's why we're hosting an event on 8/23 featuring Dr. Khalil Muhammad discussing his Freedom to Learn initiative, our President and CEO, Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, Professor Alexander, and many other great speakers. Register below.

The $10 ticket price includes free valet parking, light breakfast, and lunch throughout the day. Free for students using the code lawstudent or policystudent.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/childwatch-2023-registration-688116463867?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

Rufo said the goal was to "have the public read something crazy in the newspaper and immediately think 'critical race theory.' We have decodified the term and will recodify it to annex the entire range of cultural constructions that are unpopular with Americans."

Lawyers and policy makers are primarily responsible for this concerted effort underway by the right to erase both the history of Black resistance and the legacy of white supremacy from public education. And they have no plans to stop. It’s incumbent on us all, especially lawyers, law students, policy advocates, policy students and elected officials to join the fight against these attacks if there’s hope to stop them in the future.

And while the majority of these efforts occur in red states, school boards and school districts in Paso Robles, Temecula Valley, Orange County, Murietta, Placienta-Yorba Linda, and Ramona have adopted positions prohibiting teaching our nation's history, eliminating references to the racist policies and laws that have shaped our country and produced many of the inequities we see today.

A proposed North Dakota law defines critical race theory as: “the theory that racism is not merely the product of learned individual bias or prejudice, but that racism is systemically embedded in American society and the American legal system to facilitate racial inequality.” If we let this definition stand, it means a ban on discussions of systemic racism. In this context, the only racism is individual racism, ignoring the structures and systems framing our entire society, embedded in our laws, policies, and practices.

If that is the terrain of discourse, what is policy advocacy? What is impact litigation? How do people who want to build a better world go about making the change they want to see? And how does that impact children and young people, especially young Black and Brown people living in the state of California?

Please join us by registering now to attend this event and share widely. The $10 ticket price includes free valet parking, light breakfast, and lunch throughout the day.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/childwatch-2023-registration-688116463867?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

Children's Defense Fund-California Working to improve the lives of children, particularly children of color, across California so that t

"If we don’t share the stories of ALL our foremothers and forefathers with our children, they will be led down a path of ignorance that could cause them to repeat the mistakes of the past." —Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson

For Our Children When young Black and Brown children and youth see their stories in books—when they read about families like theirs, from neighborhoods like their own—they learn more effectively. Yet, a disturbing trend is developing in classrooms across the country. Many local school boards and state boards of ...

We've got some seriously ✨ incredible ✨ discussions planned for in Los Angeles next week. Have you registered yet? This is one event you don't want to miss: bit.ly/childwatch23

"When young Black and Brown children and youth see their stories in books—when they read about families like theirs, from neighborhoods like their own—they learn more effectively. Yet, a disturbing trend is developing in classrooms across the country. Many local school boards and state boards of education, under pressure from so-called parents’ rights groups and calculating politicians, are voting to take young people’s learning in the wrong direction. They are curtailing the teaching of Black history, banning books, and hardening the discipline measures used on students when they make mistakes.

This alarming reality encouraged our team in California, Children’s Defense Fund-California, to devote the focus of our upcoming advocacy symposium, ChildWatch 2023, to discussing ways to end these harmful practices."

Read "For Our Children," a new column by our President & CEO, Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson! (Then, register to join us next Wednesday, August 23, in Los Angeles for ChildWatch 2023: bit.ly/childwatch23.)

For Our Children When young Black and Brown children and youth see their stories in books—when they read about families like theirs, from neighborhoods like their own—they learn more effectively. Yet, a disturbing trend is developing in classrooms across the country. Many local school boards and state boards of ...

🚨 ACTION ALERT - NO MORE CASH FOR CAGES🚨

TAKE ACTION HERE: https://bit.ly/45yFuvL
AB 695 would give LA County's juvenile facilities $1 BILLION! LA Probation has a long history of physically, emotionally, & sexually abusing kids inside LA’s halls & camps. AB 695 would give them money for superficial facility renovations. But the walls of these facilities did not abuse kids for decades, it was probation officers in a department that remains rooted in a culture of abuse and punishment.

CA is facing a budget deficit. Sinking $1 billion into LA county's failed juvenile halls is wasteful and irresponsible.

Now THIS is what we call a policy 👏🏾 symposium 👏🏾 ! We're stoked about the incredible policy breakout sessions planned for ChildWatch 2023 in next week.

✨ REGISTER ✨ before it's too late 👉🏾 https://bit.ly/childwatch23

It's a privilege to welcome Assemblymember Corey A. Jackson as a panelist for ChildWatch 2023!

Will we see you on August 23? Register to attend now >> https://www.eventbrite.com/e/childwatch-2023-registration-688116463867

We're *so* excited for the incredible lineup of speakers, panelists, and leaders coming together for ChildWatch 2023 in L.A. on August 23, including our very own President & CEO, Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson!

Learn more and REGISTER now at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/childwatch-2023-registration-688116463867

Hey, ! We want to see YOU on Aug. 23! Join us for ChildWatch 2023, a policy and advocacy symposium. We're bringing together thought leaders dedicated to California's children, including keynote speaker Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad!

REGISTER ➡️ https://www.eventbrite.com/e/childwatch-2023-registration-688116463867

This Thursday, the SaferLBUSD Campaign will be co-hosting an event to reimagine school safety with Long Beach Unified and community partners.

Register and join us this Thursday at 6 Long Beach USD Public Advocates Californians for Justice (www.caljustice.org)

Register ASAP & join us tonight!

We have been co-hosting a Family Empowerment Series for families in Long Beach. Join us tomorrow (4/25 @ 6:30 - 7:30) to learn more about tutoring options in LBUSD.

Register at bit.ly/RegistrationLBEC & follow us at bit.ly/LBECFacebook. Public Advocates Latinos In Action

We've been talking about how Los Angeles County's probation cops continue to fight oversight and throw their weight behind maintaining child prisons and the carceral status quo. Their latest tactic? Circumventing the County altogether to ask the state legislature for special funding LA's probation cop unions are pushing Assembly Bill 695, which would give LA probation special funds for a "training facility" and superficial, physical upgrades to halls and camps - this could easily amount to $1 billion in the pockets of those who have caused the crisis we see today.

The abuses faced by young people incarcerated in Los Angeles juvenile facilities include sexual, physical, and emotional abuse at the hands of probation cops. None of the abuses are the result of a lack of funds or training, none of these abuses can be addressed with physical improvements to the facilities, none of these abuses can be addressed with an unnecessary “training center” for officers.

No one can deny that the youth in LA probation custody are suffering. But this is not the answer. LA County has already chartered a path to addressing the decades-long dysfunction in the LA halls and camps – it is called Youth Justice Reimagined and it envisions an eventual phase out of reliance on halls and camps in favor of community alternatives and safe and secure healing centers. Youth Justice Reimagined is the result of years of collaboration among advocates and impacted communities and the LA Board of Supervisors has approved the plan unanimously. Pouring close to a billion dollars into LA’s halls and camps is the antithesis of Youth Justice Reimagined.

Join us in opposing AB 695, which is a transparent attempt to undermine the County’s vision for supporting young people. Add your name to the growing list of opposing organizations here:

https://forms.gle/Hc1afdC7fn9jKW2r8

Me Too for Opposition to AB 695 If you would like your organization to be named in the opposition to AB 695 (Pacheco), please fill in the information below! If you would like more information on why we are opposing this bill, please see our Opposition Letter for more details.