Children First for Oregon

Children First 2011 Legislative Priorities

Here is what we’re working on for the 2011 legislative session:

Keeping children healthy

Ensure the new Health Insurance Exchange is good for kids and families. We want a clear, easy to use interface where families can access subsidies and kids maintain the high level of coverage they have now under Healthy Kids.

Protect School Based Health Centers from budget cuts that undermine health access for kids. We want to ensure that no SBHC closes, which would limit kids access to physical, mental, preventative and in some cases dental health services.

Keeping children safe

Provide tuition waivers for former foster youth to access higher education. We want to make sure college is financially attainable for former foster youth.

Protect funding for child welfare prevention programs that reduce foster care placements. We want to maintain prevention programs for parents that reduce costs and improve outcomes for vulnerable kids.
Increase access to Independent Living Programs so youth are prepared when transitioning out of foster care. We want to ensure all eligible kids who want ILP services get the help they need.

Strengthening families

Protect the Employment Related Day Care assistance program so day care is affordable to working parents. We want to protect ERDC for 10,000 working families, giving kids safe child care arrangements and parents stability to remain employed.

Protect TANF for extremely low income children. We want to protect this children’s poverty program to ensure kids do not end up homeless in during the recession.

Maintain School Food programs so kids are healthy, ready to learn. We want to maintain eligibility levels for Oregon students needing to access food at school.

Expand Earned Income Tax Credit to help Oregon’s lowest income kids and their families. We want to use this targeted and effective approach to make Oregon’s tax system fairer for low- and moderate-income working families, giving them and their communities a much needed boost.