Children's Defense Fund (CDF)
The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for the rights and welfare of children in the United States, particularly those who are poor, minorities, or disabled. Founded in 1973 by Marian Wright Edelman, the CDF aims to ensure that all children have access to essential services such as healthcare and education, while being protected from abuse and neglect. The organization operates from its headquarters in Washington, D.C., with numerous state offices, and relies on private funding from grants and donations, as it does not accept government funding.
The CDF's initiatives include the Leave No Child Behind campaign, which focuses on ending child poverty and providing resources to families, such as affordable childcare and livable wage jobs. The organization has historically played a significant role in the passage of key legislation, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Additionally, CDF offers programs like the Freedom Schools to address educational disparities and combat summer learning loss.
Despite its accomplishments, the CDF faces criticism for its liberal stance and some of its past predictions, particularly regarding welfare reforms. Nevertheless, its ongoing efforts address pressing issues like gun violence prevention, support for children of color, and reducing youth incarceration rates, underscoring its commitment to improving the lives of America’s children and families.
Children's Defense Fund (CDF)
The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) is a private national organization that serves as a voice for America's children and teenagers, particularly those who are poor, minorities, or disabled. The CDF lobbies legislators and speaks out publicly to try to ensure that all children have access to health care and a quality education, are protected from abuse and neglect, and develop a moral and spiritual foundation. The organization's approach to helping children is holistic. The CDF also provides resources for parents, including information on childcare, health insurance, mental health, and the prevention of teen violence.
Headquartered in Washington, DC, and with offices in states across the nation, the CDF was founded in 1973 by Marian Wright Edelman, who served as the organization's president until 2018, when she transitioned to president emerita. Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson became president of the organization in 2020. The CDF receives no government funding. Its $9 million annual budget is funded by grants from foundations and businesses and individual donations.
In 1994, the CDF purchased a 157-acre farm that was once the home of Pulitzer Prize–winning author Alex Haley. The organization considers the farm to be a place of spiritual renewal, where its members can connect with others who share their child advocacy goals.
Brief History
The CDF was founded on May 24, 1973, by Edelman, the first African American woman to pass the bar exam in Mississippi. Prior to starting the CDF, Edelman had been an advocate for Americans who were discriminated against or disadvantaged. She worked as an attorney for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense and Educational Fund and helped establish a Head Start program for children in Mississippi. She worked as counsel for the Poor People's March, which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. began organizing before his death. Edelman was inspired by the changes brought about by the civil rights movement and wanted to create similar changes—namely, equal rights—for disadvantaged children and teenagers.
In 1975, the CDF and its supporters fought for the right of disabled children to have access to schools. With peaceful sit-ins and demonstrations, they convinced secretaries of health, education, and welfare of the importance of this goal. Their efforts helped pass the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, which later became the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The act requires all public schools accepting federal funds to provide access to education to children with physical and mental disabilities. The goal of the act is to make disabled children's educational experiences as close as possible to those of non-disabled children by providing early intervention, special education, and other services.
During the next decade, the CDF combatted government cutbacks in programs that helped children and their families, in particular Head Start and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutritional programs.
In the 1990s, the CDF helped to pass the Act for Better Child Care (ABC), which later became the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act. The goal of the act is to make childcare more affordable by providing federal funding to states.
The CDF made significant progress in assisting children and families during the Clinton administration (1993–2001). The CDF received the support of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was Edelman's college friend and a fellow advocate of programs that benefit children and families. Clinton served as the chair of the CDF's board of directors from 1986 to 1992. The CDF's many accomplishments include the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC, 1993), which reduces taxes for families with low to moderate incomes; the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA, 1993), which allows eligible employees to take an unpaid leave for up to twelve weeks without fear of losing their job; and the Foster Care Independence Act (1999), which helps youth transition from foster care to living independently. The CDF also worked to establish the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP, 1997), which gives states federal funding to provide health insurance to children of families with an income that is too high for Medicaid but too low for private insurance.
Impact
The CDF has advocated for children for more than forty years. The mission of its Leave No Child Behind initiative is "to ensure that every child has a healthy start, a head start, a fair start, a safe start, and a moral start in life with a successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities."
As of 2024, the CDF continued to focus on ending child poverty by ensuring that parents and caregivers have jobs paying livable wages and access to affordable childcare and health care. The organization also continued to rally support for Head Start, a national program that gives children from low-income families a chance to attend federally funded preschool. The organization continues to operate its CDF Freedom Schools, a six-week program designed to help combat learning lost during summer breaks.
The CDF's other campaigns included persuading the government not to cut programs that benefit children, protecting children from gun violence, helping children of color succeed in school, and reducing youth detention and incarceration by giving children what they need—a good education and quality physical and mental health care.
Despite the CDF's many successes, however, the organization has its share of critics, some of whom think it is too liberal. These critics also argue that the CDF wants to initiate programs that have failed in the past. Others point out that Edelman's views and predictions have not always been correct. Edelman sharply criticized the welfare reform bill enacted in 1996 under President Bill Clinton's tenure, saying it would impoverish millions of American children. The bill required welfare recipients to work and set a limit on how long they could collect benefits. Census Bureau data indicates that the welfare reform bill mostly helped children, especially children of single mothers and African American children. The poverty rate among children in these groups declined—and the poverty rate among African American children dropped significantly after the welfare reform.
Bibliography
“2023 State of America’s Children Report.” Children’s Defense Fund, childrensdefense.org/tools-and-resources/the-state-of-americas-children/. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024.
“The Cradle to Prison Pipeline: America’s New Apartheid.” Children’s Defense Fund, 7 Feb. 2009, www.childrensdefense.org/the-cradle-to-prison-pipeline-americas-new-apartheid/. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024.
Daley-Harris, Shannon, and Marian Wright Edelman. Hope for the Future. Westminster John Knox Press, 2016.
Hymowitz, Kay S. "The Children's Defense Fund, Not Part of the Solution." City Journal, Summer 2000, www.city-journal.org/article/the-childrens-defense-fund-not-part-of-the-solution. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024.
Sellers, Frances Stead. "The Story of Hillary Clinton's 'Totally Confusing' Relationship with Her Liberal Mentor." The Washington Post, 3 June 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-hillary-clintons-long-tense-relationship-with-her-liberal-mentor/2016/06/02/b204f6de-22af-11e6-8690-f14ca9de2972‗story.html?utm‗term=.153c50af3491. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024.