The UPDATE | February 24

 

Report Illustrates Power of Partnership Between Home Visitors and Families

According to the DC Home Visiting Council, chaired by DC Action, in its 2021 Annual Home Visiting Report, the District’s home visiting programs have quietly shown up for families in countless ways for two long years during the COVID-19 pandemic. While home visitors continue to use their training to center the growth of the family and their children’s development, home visitors have also been able to walk families through relief resources and coping strategies to stay afloat during an especially challenging time.


Briana Wallington Ferguson Is a Changemaker Uplifting the District's Youth

In celebration of Black History Month, DC Action is highlighting native Washingtonians who came up through local out-of-school-time programs. Those experiences made such a difference in their lives that they are now working for the same OST programs and serving as role models to a new generation of young people.

 


DC Kids Count Update on the Impact of COVID-19

on Children and Youth

While confirmed COVID-19 cases among children are less common than among adults, nearly 29,000 children and youth have still contracted the disease, as of February 16. Children have been hospitalized at lower rates than adults, but long-term repercussions are still being understood.


Senior Youth Policy Analyst Rachel White Testifies

on Workforce Development

Last week Rachel White, Senior Youth Policy Analyst at DC Action, testified before two DC Council committees on the need for specialized workforce development programs for youth and young adults experiencing homelessness.


Final Hearings Round Out Performance Oversight Phase of Budget Season

As we approach the end of the DC Council’s performance oversight hearings, there are still several opportunities for residents to make their voices heard about what is and isn’t working in the District. Upcoming hearings related to DC Action’s priorities:

Wednesday, March 2 | Committee of the Whole: All education agencies

To learn more or testify about early learning and language access in early learning, contact Hannah Francis at hfrancis@dckids.org.

To learn more or testify about the importance of out-of-school-time programs, contact Ryllie Danylko at rdanylko@dckids.org.

Friday, March 4 | Committee of the Whole: University of the District of Columbia

To learn more or testify about access to higher education for early educators, including bilingual educators, contact Natasha Riddle Romero at nriddleromero@dckids.org.

Budget hearings will begin on March 21. See the full calendar of hearings here.

 

 

DC Action in the News

Our own Kimberly Perry was honored by the Food Research and Action Center: Black History Month: Six Champions Fighting to #EndHungerNow in America, FRAC, 2.17.22

Early Childhood Educators Relish Announcement About Bonus Pay - The Washington Informer, 2.9.22


READ, WATCH, LISTEN

Read

Making Care Count: A Century of Gender, Race, and Paid Care Work by Mignon Duffy reconceives our understanding of the meaning and importance of care work through her investigation of the history of child care, health care, education and social services and the policy solutions that emerge as a result.

Watch

 

Bestselling author, poet, and former Prince George’s County Teacher of the Year Clint Smith is the host of YouTube series Crash Course: Black American History. Each 10- to 15-minute episode focuses on a different important moment in Black American history. Watch the latest installment: School Segregation and Brown v Board: Crash Course Black American History #33 and then check out the rest of the series.

Listen

The latest episode of The United States of Anxiety, a podcast hosted by Kai Wright on WNYC, features data journalist Mona Chalabi discussing the complexities and constructs of identity and race, particularly as we are constantly confronted with boxes to check that many people do not fit into.