This year promises to be an important year for elections at the state and national level. Child advocates and citizens need to get children and families into the minds and platforms of candidates before Election Day. That will ensure kids get the attention they deserve and have a voice in the Arkansas Capitol when policies are made and budgets decided.

Lack of programs, high costs contribute to dearth of treatment options just as state holds off on an expansion approved in 2009.

Arkansas' 2011 budget for Pre-K flat funded, not protected from further cuts

Statement by AACF Executive Director, Rich Huddleston, on the President's Proposed 2011 Budget

New data show that enacting the delayed 2009 expansion would help the rising number of middle-income families who need child health insurance.

AACF is seeking a full-time or part-time development director with a minimum of 5 years of experience in raising major gifts for nonprofits. Competitive salary. Equal-opportunity employer. Send cover letter, resume, and references to Nancy Leonhardt or 1400 West Markham St., Ste. 306, Little Rock, AR  72201.

Health reform continues to progress through the House and Senate. On Saturday, November 7, the House of Representatives passed the Affordable Health Care for America Act of 2009 bill by 220 votes. AACF thanks Arkansas Representatives Marion Berry and Vic Snyder for voting in favor of the bill.

When a family loses their small business or first home through bankruptcy because a child suffers a serious injury in a football game, we know we can't afford to delay reforming our nation's health care system. There are tens of thousands of uninsured Arkansas children and their families who cannot afford health insurance. They live in fear of not being able to pay for medical care.

National study of state tax systems finds Arkansas among 10 states with highest taxes on the poor

Working Families Also Spend $100 Million in High Tax Preparation Fees and Rapid Refund Loans

LITTLE ROCK—Arkansas working families are losing as much as $110 million every year because they don’t claim the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a significant loss in federal dollars to the hard-pressed Arkansas economy. They spend another $100 million on expensive, and unnecessary, tax preparation services and refund anticipation loans, according to a new report from Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.