White students are much more likely to be receiving in-person learning than minority students, revealing yet another form of racial disparity during the pandemic, stark new data released this week show. The U.S. Department of Education this week released the first in a series of school surveys aimed at providing a national view of learning during the pandemic. The survey showed that the percentage of students still attending school virtually may be higher than previously thought.
Archives: Voices
Hunger in the U.S. Military: ‘Families have been struggling with this for a long time’
COVID-19 has caused hardship among the nation’s vulnerable, but a surprising issue is coming to the forefront that has been festering for many years; hunger in military families. CBS News shared the story of Kay, a military spouse, who recently traveled to a food bank to feed her family of six. “It lasts a couple of days, maybe just because there are so many of us in the house,” said Kay. “I cannot feed my kids. I cannot make this vehicle payment because I had to feed my kids. It’s just unacceptable, really,”
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship March 19, 2021
The shot in the arm edition. More than one in five Americans have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination; that number is slowly climbing toward one in four. But it is not just tens of millions of Americans who are receiving a shot in the arm – so is our economy, thanks to the American Rescue Plan.
People of conscience must speak out and take action against hate
The Coalition on Human Needs stands with the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and with people of conscience throughout our nation in outrage and grief over the hateful killings of eight people, six of them women of Asian descent, in Atlanta.
How the American Rescue Plan will save the child care industry and put women back to work
Almost exactly one year ago, Kate Aronoff’s child care center closed due to COVID-19. She thought it would be closed for two weeks, and then her 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter would be able to return. But then Kate and her husband, who live in the small college town of Corvallis, Oregon, learned it was closing permanently. “We started calling around to all of the child care centers in our small-ish town to see who might have space and were able to get my children enrolled in another day care. However, two weeks later, we learned that that day care was also closing permanently, which was another big blow.”
CHN’s latest Human Needs Report: American Rescue Plan, victory for immigrants, Biden nominations and more
CHN just released another edition of the Human Needs Report. Read on for the latest on what’s in the COVID-19 relief package and who it helps, changes to anti-immigrant regulations, the status of President Biden’s Cabinet, and more.
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship March 12, 2021
The victory lap edition. Help is on the way. Yesterday President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan. The plan is bold enough to meet the twin problems of pandemic and recession; The New York Times calls it “virtually without precedent in recent American politics.”
COVID-19 complicates progress toward a more humane immigration system
It’s no secret that Donald Trump’s immigration policies were not popular with a large segment of the American public. From Trump’s Muslim travel ban, derailing family reunification policies, detaining migrants at the border, and pausing the processing of Green cards, the Biden Administration has scrambled to undo these immigration policies. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted nearly every aspect of normal federal immigration function.
Coalition on Human Needs Hails Passage of American Rescue Plan: ‘Help is on the way’
Help is on the way. President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, enacted today by Congress, will offer badly needed help to protect our people from the pandemic’s threats. It is of the scope needed to speed vaccines across the nation and to help families withstand the economic blows that still afflict us.
WV groups: Passage of American Rescue Plan critical for recovery
With the U.S. Senate on the verge of voting on President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID rescue plan, advocates for West Virginia families are saying federal relief is critical. Even before the pandemic, many in West Virginia faced food insecurity and a lack of childcare and broadband access – according to Amy Jo Hutchinson, an organizer with Our Future West Virginia. “Food insecurity is always a problem,” said Hutchinson. “A lot of that has to do with food access, because we’re so rural in so many areas. And I know that when COVID hit, the food pantries around here, they saw an increase of three times the regular need.”
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship March 5, 2021
The Hurry Up Senate edition. The Senate is poised to vote on the American Rescue Plan this weekend, and not a minute too soon. Unemployment benefits are scheduled to expire on March 14 if Congress does not get a bill to President Biden’s desk before then. Even if the bill gets final enactment early next week, some states may face an interruption in benefits because of the short lead time. Despite this, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) demanded a reading of the entire 628-page bill, which took hours.
Arizona families counting on passage of COVID relief plan
As Arizona families struggle to recover from the pandemic’s economic fallout, advocates for children and families say quick passage of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan has become critical. Tomas Robles, co-chair of Living United for Change in Arizona, or LUCHA, said families need help – before and after the pandemic is over. “There’s never going to be enough, in terms of total relief that our country has received,” said Robles. “But our families are going to take some of the assistance and really be able to continue pressing and persevering through this really difficult time in a lot of people’s lives.”