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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Tiffany Thomas Smith / 410.223.2980 / media@aecf.org

[Baltimore, MD] The Annie E. Casey Foundation is announcing the launch of the 100Days/100Voices campaign to hear from youth, parents, advocates and policymakers to assess what has been done to support kids and families during the first 100 days of the Obama Administration.

Through its website (www.aecf.org/100Days), the Foundation is collecting written comments of up to 100 words and YouTube video clips lasting up to two minutes answering the questions, "After 100 days of the new Administration, are kids and families better off? Why or Why Not?” Responses will be posted online and through social network outlets beginning April 29.

“The 100Days/100Voices campaign is the beginning of a national conversation,” said Douglas W. Nelson, president and CEO of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the country’s largest private charitable organization focusing exclusively on improving the lives of vulnerable children and families. “This is a chance for the families and communities closest to these issues to call attention to the progress made in the first 100 days and how federal policies and policymakers should continue to address the needs of vulnerable families across the country.”

The campaign is part of the Foundation’s effort to use this time of reflection to highlight the important, family strengthening policies that have been put in place since January 2009, including:

• The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which increases access to the Child Tax Credit for low-income working families, expands the nation’s unemployment insurance system to cover more low wage workers, and provides additional support for Head Start, formal and neighborhood-based child care, and education.
• The expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, an important source of health care coverage for children in low-income families – those who do not qualify for Medicaid, but are not able to afford health insurance on their own.
• The implementation of the Homeownership Affordability and Stability Plan, which will help homeowners avoid foreclosure.
• The Administration’s commitment to tackling concentrated poverty, as exhibited through investments in rural America and the Promise Neighborhood Initiative, a program modeled after the Harlem Children's Zone which will provide much-needed services and supports to families in struggling communities.

People are encouraged to share their opinion at www.aecf.org/100Days by April 29.

Visit www.aecf.org for details on the 100Days/100Voices campaign and a special policy issue of the Foundation’s CaseyConnects newsletter that includes policy recommendations on reducing poverty and promoting opportunity; reforming the child welfare system; rebuilding the juvenile justice system; and improving the nation's data on children and families.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Tiffany Thomas Smith at media@aecf.org or 410.223.2980.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private charitable organization dedicated to helping build better futures for children in the United States. Based in Baltimore, MD, the primary mission of the Foundation is to foster public policies, human-service reforms, and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today’s vulnerable children and families. For more information, visit www.aecf.org.