Arkansas should commit to serving at least all low-income preschoolers. The 2021 State of Preschool Yearbook, released by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education, provides an in-depth look at state-funded...
On April 12, during Black Maternal Health Week, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families hosted a forum on the current status of Black women’s health in Arkansas. This forum addressed the maternal mortality and morbidity crisis and explored additional...
The United States is the only developed country where the maternal mortality rate has been steadily rising. But most pregnancy-related deaths, one third of which happen between two and 12 months postpartum, are preventable.
Babies need their mothers; children need their parents. Everyone should have the opportunity to raise their children and live out their full life expectancy. However, this opportunity is denied many babies and their mothers due to the mother’s death...
All children and families, regardless of race, ethnicity, or where they live, deserve access to high-quality affordable foods. Unfortunately, when the COVID-19 pandemic started, families in poverty and on the edge of poverty were hit hardest by hunger. It...
Following Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson’s press conference, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families Executive Director Rich Huddleston issued the following statement: We are deeply disappointed in the governor’s announcement today that Arkansas is rejecting $146 million in housing assistance...
Since the beginning of our country there have been movements to expand the right to vote to all citizens, not just a select few. After hundreds of years of work by advocates to ensure our country was living up...
The families of more than 61 million children – including more than 600,000 in Arkansas – benefited from the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) included in the American Rescue Plan. From July through December of 2021, more than 350,000...
The state of Black women’s health is in critical condition, due to the systemic racism, discrimination, and implicit bias that Black women face within the health care system. To combat the intersecting factors that create an inequitable health care...
Year two of the COVID-19 pandemic had our staff continuing to adapt to a mostly virtual world as we worked with our partners, fellow advocates, and policymakers to advance our mission. The 2021 state legislative session brought particular challenges,...