To complement our grantmaking and broaden the scope of our work, JWFNY is excited to launch a new advocacy and policy agenda focused on children’s welfare issues. The Advocacy and Policy Committee spent last year researching this issue and recently met to discuss strategic partnerships and next steps.
Did you know that 1 in 5 (or 20%) children, including Jewish children, in the U.S. live below the poverty line? In New York City, that figure is even higher at 27%. The Child Nutrition Act is a critical piece of federal legislation and includes programs like school breakfast/lunch, child/adult care food and women with infant children programs. It determines things like reimbursement levels, nutrition standards and eligibility and criteria for these programs
Equal Pay Day
JWFNY is a member of the New York Women’s Agenda coalition on Equal Pay Day, a day dedicated to promoting equal pay for men and women.
Despite the more than four decades that have passed since Congress outlawed wage discrimination based on gender, women in the U.S. are still underpaid for their work. On average, a woman makes about 78 cents to the dollar as compared to men. Those lost earnings impact not just women, but their families and the entire community as well.
While the concept of equal pay for equal work is now widely accepted in the United States, it isn’t enforced appropriately. By joining Equal Pay Day, JWFNY is promoting policy and legislative action on all levels and is calling on the government to create fair pay practices.
Family Court Justices
JWFNY also supports legislation to increase the number of family court justices in New York State, in an effort to address the overwhelming number of court cases assigned to the current justices. Since 1991, the number of justices had remained the same, despite the fact that the number of cases in Family Court had almost doubled during this time. This impacted adoption and foster care proceedings tremendously and children, for the most part, bore the brunt of these delays.
We are delighted that on June 22, 2010, the Senate Democratic Majority passed legislation that will establish 21 new Family Court judge-ships throughout the state, including New York City and several counties. Now we must wait for the bill to be passed in the New York State Assembly. We hope that the addition of the new judgeships will help ensure the best possible outcomes for the families going through the court system.
