The Children's Defense Fund is a child advocacy group. Their motto Leave No Child Behind indicates their mission to lobby on behalf of children in the federal government and the states. They were founded in 1973 by Marian Wright Edelman.

The principal public policy initiative is summarized by their advocacy of the "Dodd-Miller Act to Leave No Child Behind (S. 448/H.R. 936)," introduced in Congress in 2001. This differs from the No Child Left Behind Act. Its provisions would, according to the orginization [1]:

• prepare every child for school through full funding of quality childcare, Head Start and Early Head Start, and new investments in universal preschool education programs
• lift every child from poverty by 2010
• ensure that every child and parent has health insurance as a first step toward universal coverage
• end child hunger through the expansion of food programs, living wages, tax credits, and family supports
• make sure every child can read by fourth grade and can graduate from high school able to succeed at work and in life
• provide every child safe, quality after-school and summer programs to learn, serve, work, and stay out of trouble
• ensure every child decent affordable housing
• protect all children from neglect, abuse, and other violence and ensure them the care they need
• ensure families leaving welfare the supports required to be successful in the workplace, including healthcare, childcare, education, and training

External links

• Children's Defense Fund home page