FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 14, 2020
Contact: Maria Mejia, (510) 763-2444 x108, [email protected]
Children Now Statement on Gov. Newsom’s May Revision
Ted Lempert, President, Children Now, issued the following statement in response to Governor Newsom’s May Revision:
“The May Revise proposal fails to reflect that the majority of the state’s children were in crises before the pandemic, in part because California failed to prioritize children above other interests. Since then, kids have been significantly affected by the pandemic – from a dramatic loss of learning time to a sharp increase in the need for mental health support. The May Revise proposed reductions to child care and elimination of a crises hotline for foster youth experiencing trauma are particularly inexplicable given the need for such emergency supports at this time. As California leaders make decisions in the upcoming and extremely difficult state budget process, they must ensure that programs serving kids, including early childhood, K-12, children’s physical and mental health and foster care, are the least impacted by budget cuts, and not repeat the history of the last recession when many of these services were cut the most.”
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Children Now is a non-partisan, whole-child research, policy development and advocacy organization dedicated to promoting children’s health and education in California. The organization also leads The Children’s Movement of California, a network of more than 3,600 direct service, parent, civil rights, faith-based and community groups dedicated to improving children’s well-being.