What a year 2023 was! Since the Arkansas General Assembly held their general session in 2023, much of what you will read in this report is focused on our policy advocacy efforts. Our staff helped get six bills from our legislative agenda introduced. During the regular session alone, Arkansas Advocates staff testified 23 times before […]
Whether you have children or not, the well-being of our state’s kids is critical to everyone’s future. As advocates, it’s up to us to make sure voters and candidates are aware of the issues that matter most. Election years are an excellent time to call attention to the ways we can make Arkansas a better […]
Inequity for Marshallese Migrants in the Food Safety Net Every Arkansan should have access to adequate and nutritious food. But all too often, our “safety net” programs leave out the ones who need it most. For example, people born in the Marshall Islands are left out of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP is […]
With many narratives around the LEARNS Act floating around, it can be hard to tell between fact and fiction. And understandably, most Arkansas families are not going to have the time to sit down and read all 144 pages of the legislation. In this report, we have summarized the most relevant sections of the LEARNS […]
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF) had a noteworthy 2022! We celebrated AACF’s 45th year of operation throughout the year, sharing highlights of the organization’s history and looking forward to what a shared future vision for Arkansas might look like. In March, then-Executive Director Rich Huddleston announced his plans to depart the organization by […]
Arkansas’s 2023 General Assembly passed 889 bills. Many of these new laws will impact Arkansas’s kids. From depression-screening coverage for pregnant women and new moms to free school meals for more kids, our Kids at the Capitol 2023 Legislative Summary has it all. Read about the good laws that passed, the missed opportunities, and the […]
Protecting Children’s Health Coverage in the Face of Major Challenges Arkansas has historically been a leader in children’s health coverage, with almost 95% of our state’s children covered by health insurance. But we’re entering a critical period to hold the line on that good track record. With next month’s official end of policies designed to […]
Arkansas teachers lost more employment protections with the final passage of the Arkansas LEARNS Act. But before this bill was even filed, teachers here already had some of the weakest union bargaining rights in the nation. How did it come to this? The most recent law to contribute to this was Act 612 of 2021. […]
When Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families meets with people around the state, we hear similar stories: in El Dorado and Jonesboro, we hear about the negative impact of unfair rental laws on children’s health. In Springdale and Little Rock, we’re told of the ability of early childhood education to ensure kids’ long-term success. In […]
We all want Arkansas schools to be safe, healthy, and orderly environments so every student can learn and thrive. Kids need clear expectations for behavior and logical consequences to grow academically and learn from their mistakes. However, many outdated school discipline policies and practices in Arkansas can create more problems than they solve. Harsh, arbitrary, […]