HUNGER PROGRAMS RESOURCES
Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics
A collaboration of federal agencies and departments, the forum fosters coordination in collecting and reporting federal statistics on education, family and social environment, economic circumstances, health and health care, behavior, physical environment and safety. It releases the "America's Children" report each July. For federal statistics on a range of issues, see www.fedstats.gov
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
CBPP conducts research and analysis to inform debates on fiscal policy and to help ensure that the needs of low-income families and individuals are considered.
Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
The ERS provides economic analysis on food, farming, natural resources and rural development. Its economists and social scientists conduct research, analyze food and commodity markets, produce policy studies, and develop economic and statistical indicators. Its work is structured among four divisions: resource and rural economics; food economics; information services; and market and trade economics.
National Center for Children in Poverty
Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
Founded in 1989 at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, the nonprofit research center promotes the economic security, health and well-being of America’s low-income families and children. It pushes family-oriented solutions at the state and national levels, producing reports and fact sheets that highlight strategies to end child poverty. (See its fact sheet, “Basic Facts About Low-Income Children in the United States,”
Morris Ardoin, communications director, 646.284.9616; ardoin@nccp.org
"Rural America at a Glance, 2009 Edition," Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
"Rural America At A Glance” is a series of brochures that highlight the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas for use in developing policies and programs to assist rural areas. Focuses include the labor market, housing, population, unemployment, industry, race, education, economy, income and poverty trends in rural areas.
"The Cost of Doing Nothing: The Economic Impact of Recession-Induced Child Poverty" December 2008; First Focus
First Focus' report, "The Cost of Doing Nothing: The Economic Impact of Recession-Induced Child Poverty" finds the United States will suffer a future economic loss of over $1.7 trillion if the current recession drives an additional 3 million children into poverty, as has been predicted. First Focus examines the long term economic cost of persistent poverty.
Michelle Bazie, Deputy Director of Communications
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
820 1st St. NE, Suite 510
Washington, DC 20002
202.408.1080; bazie@cbpp.org
CBPP conducts research and analysis to inform debates on fiscal policy and to help ensure that the needs of low-income families and individuals are considered. It supports increasing access to supports such as Medicaid, children’s health insurance, food stamps and housing assistance. Senior researcher Arloc Sherman studies the causes and consequences of family and child poverty, trends in income inequality, policies that improve child well-being, and welfare reform. The center publishes state-by-state data on fiscal policies.
Douglas Besharov, Program Director, Welfare Reform Academy
Professor, University of Maryland School of Public Affairs
4131Van Munching Hall
(AEI) 17th St. NW, Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20036
College Park, MD 20742
301.405.6341; besharov@umd.edu
Besharov is a professor in UMD's School of Public Policy and a senior scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. He's also a lawyer. Besharov runs UMD's Welfare Academy, which helps state and local officials, private social service providers and others reshape programs in keeping with the 1996 welfare reform law. It has provided training in program design, implementation and evaluation for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Medicaid, food stamps, job training, child care and more. Besharov served as founding director of the U.S. National Center on Child Abuse from 1975 to 1979. He's the author of "Recognizing Child Abuse: A Guide for the Concerned" and 14 other books, including "The Vulnerable Social Worker: Liability for Serving Children and Families."
J. Larry Brown Ph.D., Executive Director
Center on Hunger and Poverty, Heller Graduate School, Brandeis University
Mailstop 077
Waltham, MA 02454
781.736.8885; jlbrown@brandeis.edu
The center is an outgrowth of the Harvard-based Physician Task Force on Hunger in America which, during the 1980s, made field visits across the U.S. and released studies on the extent and causes of hunger. Brown, created the center as a vehicle to address not only hunger, but its cause - growing poverty and income inequality in America.
Randy Capps Ph.D., Demographer and Senior Policy Analyst
National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, Migration Policy Institute
1400 16th St. NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20036
202.266.1938; rcapps@migrationpolicy.org
Capps researches welfare and immigration policy. Formerly an analyst at the Urban Institute, his recent reports include Paying the Price: The Impact of Immigration Raids on America's Children, A Comparative Analysis of Immigrant Integration in Low-Income Urban Neighborhoods, Trends in the Low-Wage Immigrant Labor Force 2000-2005, and Immigration and Child and Family Policy. Other areas of study include immigration trends, the unauthorized population, immigrants in the US labor force, and children of immigrants.
Janice Cooper, Interim Director
National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP)
215 W. 125th St., 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10027
646.284.9600; info@nccp.org
NCCP is dedicated to promoting the economic security, health, and wellbeing of America’s low-income families and children. It seeks to advance family-oriented solutions and the strategic use of public resources at the state and national levels to ensure positive outcomes for the next generation.
Gene Nichol, Director
Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity, UNC School of Law
100 Ridge Road
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3380
919.843.8796; PovertyCenter@unc.edu
A law professor, Nichol's expertise includes the areas of constitutional law, federal courts, civil rights, economic injustice and election law. His works have appeared in many of the nation's top law journals, as well as a number of national media outlets. The center's mission is to examine innovative and practical ideas for moving more Americans out of poverty and into the middle class.
Lynn Karoly Ph.D., Senior Economist
RAND Corporation
1200 South Hayes St.
Arlington, VA 22202
703.413.1100, Ext. 5359; karoly@rand.org
Karoly's research has focused on early childhood investments, social welfare policy and U.S. labor markets. She has investigated the costs and benefits of early childhood intervention programs. And other recent research includes: the impact of welfare reform on child and family well-being, and the implications of demographic trends, technological change and globalization for the future U.S. workforce and workplace.
Anirudh Krishna Ph.D., Associate Professor of Public Policy Studies and Political Science
Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University
212 Sanford Institute
Box 90245
Durham, NC 27708
919.613.7337; krishna@pps.duke.edu
Krishna’s studies focus on democracy, community development (especially rural), political participation, social capital and poverty reduction. Most recently, Krishna has been working on poverty and democracy in developing countries. He has headed the International Poverty Study and has conducted field research on this subject in India, Kenya, Peru and Uganda.
Sam Odom, Director
Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Campus Box 8180
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-818
919.966.4250; slodom@unc.edu
FPG consists of more than 200 researchers, students and staff working on projects dealing with parent and family support; early care and education; child health and development; early identification and intervention; equity, access and inclusion; and early childhood policy. They publish “Snapshots,” which provides an overview of recently published research. FP
G distributes a monthly e-newsletter that highlights their latest research and resources.
Joanne Pfleiderer, Director of Communications
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
PO Box 2393
600 Alexander Park
Princeton, NJ 08543
609.275.2372; jpfleiderer@mathematica-mpr.com
Mathematica conducts public policy research and surveys on health care, education, welfare, employment, nutrition, child development, and other policy issues. The Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) is an affiliate research organization that designs and conducts studies focused on the U.S. health care system.
Kristine Siefert, Edith S. Gomberg Collegiate Professor of Social Work
Director, Center for Poverty, Risk and Mental Health, University of Michigan
1080 S. University, 2846 SSWB
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
734.763.6201; ksiefert@umich.edu
Siefert's research investigates social and environmental risk factors for poor health and mental health among low-income women and children in diverse racial and ethnic populations. Recent studies include the impact of household food insufficiency on the physical and mental health of low income women and social and environmental determinants of major depression in low-income women.
Timothy Smeeding, Director
Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP), University of Wisconsin-Madison
305 Observatory Hill Office Building
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Madison, WI 53706-1211
608.263.6358; smeeding@lafollette.wisc.edu
IRP is a center for interdisciplinary research into the causes and consequences of poverty and social inequality in the U.S. One of three Area Poverty Research Centers sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, it has a particular interest in poverty and family welfare in the Midwest. Smeeding is also the Arts and Sciences professor of Public Affairs. Her research interests include the economics of public policy, poverty and income distribution, health economics and the economics of aging.
Deepak Bhargava; Executive Director
Center for Community Change
1000 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20007
202.339.9300; bhargavad@commchange.org
Bhargava is the executive director of nonprofit Center for Community Change. For nearly
four decades, the Center for Community Change has worked to strengthen the leadership, voice and power of low-income communities nationwide to confront the vital issues of today and build the social movements of tomorrow.
Tanya Broder, Public Benefits Policy Director
National Immigration Law Center
1212 Broadway, Suite 1400
Oakland, CA 94612
510.663.8282, Ext. 307; Broder@nilc.org
Since joining NILC in 1996, Broder has focused on the ways in which federal, state, and local governments have been implementing welfare and immigration laws. Since 1979, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) has been dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights of low income immigrants and their family members, and has earned a national reputation as a leading expert on immigration, public benefits, and employment laws affecting immigrants and refugees.
Jeremy Cook, Deputy Communications Director
Appleseed
727 15th St., NW, 11th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
202.347.7960; jcook@appleseednetwork.org
Appleseed works at the local level, establishing and networking independent public interest law centers that identify and address issues community-by-community. As a legal pro bono network, Appleseed centers focus on public education, health care, child welfare, justice and immigration. Appleseed released the report, “It Takes a Parent: Transforming Education in the Wake of the No Child Left Behind Act. ”
Michael Fix, Senior Vice President and Director of Studies
Migration Policy Institute
1400 16th St. N.W., Suite 300
Washington, DC 20036
202.266.1924; mfix@migrationpolicy.org
Fix is also co-director of MPI's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy. His work focuses on immigrant integration, citizenship policy, immigrant children and families, the education of immigrant students, the effect of welfare reform on immigrants and the impact of immigrants on the U.S. labor force. Fix served as a principal research associate at the Urban Institute, where he directed the Immigration Studies Program from 1998 through 2004. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences’ panel on the redesign of the U.S. citizenship test.
Ross Fraser, Media Relations Manager
Feeding America
35 E. Wacker Drive, Suite 2000
Chicago, IL 60601
312.641.6422; rfraser@secondharvest.org
Formerly America's Second Harvest, Feeding America supports a network of more than 200 regional member food banks and food-rescue programs throughout the United States. In 2004, the network provided food assistance to more than 23 million low-income hungry people, including more than 9 million children .
Henry Freedman, Executive Director
National Center for Law and Economic Justice
275 7th Ave., Suite 1506
New York, NY 10001
212.633.6967; freedman@nclej.org
The National Center for Law and Economic Justice advances the cause of economic justice for low-income families, individuals and communities. The center engages in legal representation and policy advocacy to improve the administration of cash assistance, Medicaid, food stamps and child care. The Center is a recognized for using litigation to improve welfare progams.
Robert Greenstein, Executive Director
Center on Budget & Policy Priorities
820 First St. N.E., Suite 510
Washington, DC 20002
202.408.4080; greenstein@cbpp.org
Greenstein is founder and executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. His area of expertise is the federal budget, particularly the impact of tax and budget proposals on low-income people. Greenstein has written numerous reports, analyses, op-ed pieces and magazine articles on poverty-related issues, appears on national television news and public affairs programs and is frequently asked to testify on Capitol Hill. Prior to founding the center, Greenstein was administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where he directed the agency that operates the federal food assistance programs.
Roberta Heine, Vice President of Communications and Marketing
Voices for America’s Children
1000 Vermont Ave., NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20005
202.380.1781; heine@voices.org
The nonpartisan national organization advocates for the well-being of children at the federal, state and local levels of government. It is an advocacy network with 60 members in 46 states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands
Geraldine Henchy, Director of Nutrition Policy and Early Childhood Programs
Food Research and Action Center
1875 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 540
Washington, DC 20009
202.986.2200; ghenchy@frac.org
The national nonprofit organization works to improve public policies and public-private partnerships to eradicate hunger and poor nutrition in the United States. FRAC collaborates with national, state and local nonprofits, public agencies and corporations to address hunger and poverty. It coordinates the Campaign to End Childhood Hunger.
Stuart Kantor, Senior Public Affairs Associate
Urban Institute
2100 M St. NW
Washington, DC 20037
202.261.5283; skantor@urban.org
The nonpartisan research institute investigates, analyzes and seeks solutions to U.S. social and economic problems. It works on issues involving work and income, housing and communities, child welfare, and civic engagement and philanthropy. Urban has 10 policy centers, including those focusing on low-income working families, economic security, education, health policy, criminal justice and taxes
Julie Kerksick, Administrator, Division of Family and Economic Security
Wisconsin Department of Children and Families
P.O. Box 8916
Madison, WI 53708-8916
608.267.3905; juliekerksick@hotmail.com
Kerksick most recently served as the Executive Director of the New Hope Project. Kerksick has spent her entire professional career working with and on behalf of unemployed and low-income workers. She has helped design public policy, but has also shared in the responsibility of translating those policies into operating programs and procedures. Kerksick also serves on the Steering Committee of the National Transitional Jobs Network and the Board of Directors for First Service Credit Union.
Jose Padilla, Executive Director
California Rural Legal Assistance
631 Howard St., Suite 300
San Francisco, CA 94105
415.777.2752; hn0097@handsnet.org
Padilla's work has focused on immigration, civil rights and education law. He became legal advisor to California’s Migrant Education Parent Advisory Council and co-drafted AB 1382, the Migrant Education Statute, which addresses the special educational needs of California’s migrant children. CRLA’s legal work emphasizes assistance to the special needs of the farm worker community with cases focusing on pesticide exposure, housing, labor, education, civil rights, immigration and environmental justice.
Erik Peterson, Media Contact
School Nutrition Association
120 Waterfront St.
National Harbor, MD 20745
703.739.3900, Ext 124; epeterson@schoolnutrition.org
The association represents more than 55,000 members who provide in-school meals to students across the country. On a typical day during last school year, 28 million children participated in school lunch programs, and 8.7 million children participated in the school breakfast program.
Laura Rodriguez, Communication Director
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
634 South Spring St.
Los Angeles, CA 90014
202.746.7825, ext. 124; lrodriguez@maldef.org
The national nonprofit protects and promotes civil rights for 40 million Latinos living in the United States. Based in Los Angeles, with several regional offices, it handles cases involving education, employment, political access, immigration and public resource equity.
Germonique Ulmer, Director of Media Relations
Center for Community Change
1536 U St. N.W.
Washington, DC 20009
202.339.9331; info@communitychange.org
The progressive social justice organization analyzes and translates policies affecting a broad swath of very low- to moderate-income people. It helps grass-roots groups – involved in issues such as affordable housing, income supports, economic justice and immigrants’ rights – build capacity to affect policies at all levels.
Marian Wright Edelman, President
Children's Defense Fund
25 E St. NW
Washington, DC 20001
202.662.3500 work or 202.244.9004 home; cdfinfo@childrensdefense.org
CDF advocates for the children of America who cannot vote, lobby or speak for themselves, paying particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF encourages preventive investment before children get sick, into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown. CDF was founded in 1973 by Marian Wright Edelman; it is supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations. Edelman, a graduate of Spelman College and Yale Law School, began her career in the mid-60s when, as the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar, she directed the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund office in Jackson, Mississippi. In l968, she moved to Washington, D.C., as counsel for the Poor People's Campaign that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., began organizing before his death. She founded the Washington Research Project, a public-interest law firm and the parent body of CDF. For two years, she served as the Director of the Center for Law and Education at Harvard University and, in l973, began the Children's Defense Fund.
Shari Godwalla, Director
Federal Agency Forum on Child and Family Statistics
301.458.4256; sgodiwalla@cdc.gov
A collaboration of federal agencies and departments, the forum fosters coordination in collecting and reporting federal statistics on family and social environment, economic circumstances, health and health care, physical environment and safety, behavior and education. It releases an annual report, “America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-being,” each July. Federal statistics on a range of issues are available here.
Mary Reardon, Public Affairs Officer
Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
1800 M St. NW
Washington, DC 20036-5831
202.694.5136; mreardon@ers.usda.gov
The ERS provides economic analysis on food, farming, natural resources and rural development. Its economists and social scientists conduct research, analyze food and commodity markets, produce policy studies, and develop economic and statistical indicators. Its work is in four areas: resource and rural economics; food economics; information services; and market and trade economics .
Daniel Schneider Ph.D., Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families
Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
370 L'Enfant Plaza Promenade SW
Washington, DC 20201
202.690.5977; Daniel.Schneider@HHS.GOV
Schneider became acting assistant secretary in April 2007. ACF oversees programs that promote the social and economic well-being of America’s children, youth and families. Before joining ACF, Schneider served as the general counsel at the National Endowment for the Humanities. During his NEH appointment, he spent a year as deputy associate director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel.
Jack Tweedie, Director, Children and Families Program
National Conference of State Legislatures
1560 Broadway, Suite 700
Denver, CO 80202
202.624.8667; press-room@ncsl.org
Tweedie directs the National Conference of State Legislature’s Children and Families Program. He oversees NCSL’s assistance to state legislatures on welfare and poverty, child welfare, early education and child care, and youth. His current efforts focus on state Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) flexibility and state strategies to reduce child and family poverty. He provides technical assistance to states considering policy changes in TANF and poverty programs. He has helped the states maintain successful programs and services, improve key outcomes such as job retention and advancement for parents leaving work for welfare, while meeting the higher federal work participation rates. He leads NCSL’s effort to help states develop broad-based strategies to reduce family poverty and reduce the effects of children growing up in poverty. He also works with state officials on strengthening supports for low-income working families, collaboration between human services and other agencies, the effects of tight state budgets on human service programs and efforts to strengthen marriage and fatherhood. Tweedie has written several articles in State Legislatures magazine on welfare reform, welfare to work, and states’ efforts to support healthy marriages. Before joining NCSL in 1995, he taught political science and public policy at the University of Denver and the State University of New York at Binghamton. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Washington State University and a Ph.D. and a law degree from UC-Berkeley
Kenneth Wolfe, ACF Acting Deputy Director
Administration on Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W.
Washington, DC 20201
202.401.9215; kenneth.wolfe@acf.hhs.gov
ACF funds state, territory, local and tribal organizations to improve the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals and communities. It oversees roughly 60 programs involving child welfare and child support, Head Start, child care, family violence, and fatherhood and marriage.
