Each year, iCAN's staff and Advisory Council create a legislative agenda that promotes policies supportive of children and their families.  Recommendations from organizations it partners with, as well as from children's advocates, help iCAN shape the annual agenda.

2010 Legislative Agenda of the  Interfaith Children's Advocacy Network (iCAN) of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition                                

"And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets."  (Zechariah 8:5)

As people of faith, we lift up our voices for all children, asking our public officials to ACT to remove the stumbling blocks that allow childhood poverty to continue, and to ASSEMBLE the building blocks that will allow every child to thrive. 

Healthy Bodies

Stumbling blocks:  Lack of access to comprehensive, affordable, quality  health care.  Building blocks: Access to affordable, comprehensive health care provides the foundation for children's health development.

Strong Minds

Stumbling blocks: Lack of access to affordable, quality early care and education.  Building blocks: Access to affordable, quality early care and education builds strong minds and helps keep parents in the workforce.

Sound Foundations

Stumbling blocks: Insufficient wages, unsafe communities, hunger, and lack of affordable housing.  Building blocks:  Building communities with livable wage jobs, safe and stable  home and community environments, and affordable housing provide a sound foundation to help children thrive.

iCAN will actively support the recommendations of the Legislative Commission to End Poverty in Minnesota by 2020.  We recognize that ending poverty is critical for the healthy development of all children. For children living in poverty, the effects of these stumbling blocks in have much higher consequences. By working together to assemble the necessary Building Blocks, we can end childhood poverty and its effects, and ensure that all children thrive with Healthy Bodies, Strong Minds, and Sound Foundations.

Assemble the building blocks needed to ensure every child has a healthy body.

• Construct programs that provide access to affordable, quality health care for every child.  These programs must be comprehensive, including access to dental and mental health services. 

Assemble the building blocks needed to ensure every child has a strong mind.

• Fully fund child care assistance programs that allow children to spend their earliest years in stimulating, nurturing environments where they can learn, thrive, and prepare for success in school and life.
• Provide quality early education to every child, making sure that all our children are ready to begin Kindergarten on an even footing.

Assemble the building blocks needed to ensure every child has a sound foundation.

• Support initiatives that make work pay for all Minnesota parents.
• Ensure the availability of affordable housing that is free of toxins .  Housing must be free of lead, mercury, and other toxic substances that affect children more adversely than adults.
• Create and support safe neighborhoods, where no child goes hungry and all children's developmental needs are met,  and where children can play outside free of fear.

A primary foundation for each of these building blocks is a reliable and sustainable income, so that parents are not forced to make unacceptable choices between housing and health care, between healthy food and quality child care, between work time and family time.  With this foundation in place, together we can put an end to childhood poverty and provide healthy bodies, strong minds, and sound foundations for every child in Minnesota. 

 

For more information about these Building Blocks, explore the issues briefings found in the menu on the left side of the page. 

Click here for a downloadable version. Please make copies to share with the members of your congregation!