Policy Trends
CI’s Dana Hepper Named Early Childhood Advocacy Hero
This week, The Ounce of Prevention Fund named Dana Hepper, our director of policy & advocacy, one of their Early Childhood Advocacy Heroes. In her interview with The Ounce, Hepper describes the long path to passing the Student Success Act, an historic state...
In Lincoln County, Universally Offered Home Visiting Is Already Making an Impact
The Oregon legislature approved funding earlier this year for Universally offered Home Visiting (UoHV), a program designed to support infants and toddlers and their families while promoting healthy development and early learning from the time a child is born. In...
Oregon Among Tax Strategy Leaders in Funding Early Care and Education
“Funding Our Future: Generating State and Local Tax Revenue for Quality Early Care and Education” is a new report that provides early childhood leaders with strategies to direct state and local resources to funding high-quality early care and education. The report,...
CI Joins Amicus Brief in Supreme Court DACA Case
Children’s Institute has joined health experts and advocates from across the country to fight Trump administration efforts to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In an amicus brief filed last Friday, 36 organizations and leaders,...
Tell Senator Merkley to Increase Funding for Child Care!
The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) provides federal funding for states for child care subsidies for low-income families with children under 13. Before their August recess, the House voted to increase funding for CCDBG by $2.4 billion. The Senate has...
A Broader Definition of Public Charge Will Harm Millions of Families
Dana Hepper is Children's Institute's director of policy and advocacy. Below is her public comment on behalf of CI in response to the Trump Administration's changes to the public charge determination. Last year, the Trump Administration proposed changes to a...
The Path to the Student Success Act
This year, Oregon passed the Student Success Act: a new annual $1 billion public investment in education. Twenty percent of this budget—nearly $200 million per year—will go toward early childhood programs and services. This new funding is in addition to existing...
35,000 Families in Oregon Could Lose Food Stamps
You may have heard that the Trump administration is seeking to change how states enroll people in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly referred to as food stamps. Learn more about the impact this will have on people—including...
2019 Legislative Recap
Dana Hepper from Children's Institute and James Barta from Children First for Oregon provide a legislative recap to close out the 2019 session. In this segment, they discuss the final days that resulted in passage of nearly 150 bills, including all remaining bills...
Oregon’s Legislature Makes Young Kids a Priority
Oregon’s legislature adjourned on June 30 at 5:30 p.m., just six and a half hours before the constitutionally mandated close of the 2019 session. As we previously reported, the Student Success Act passed in May included historic investments in early childhood...
