Dear Lord be good to me. The sea is so wide and my boat is so small

The Children's Defense Fund Leave No Child Behind^® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. Full Mission Statement »

Future MN Doctor, Future MN Teacher, Future MN Job Creator. Babies representing future workers came to the capitol to urge legislators to Invest in Me. See Legislative Agenda & Photos
Understand how child poverty affects a child’s brain development, how it affects all our futures and how smart investments today can help. Read CDF-MN's: 10 Things to Know About Child Poverty in MN
Congratulations to Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) and Sondra Samuels, CDF-Minnesota Advisory Board Member and NAZ Chief Executive Officer, on winning federal Promise Neighborhood funding for children and families! Read More
Read CDF-MN Press Release. Minnesota is the only state with a significant increase in the rate of uninsured children from 2008 to 2010. Source: Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Center for Children and Families.

Creating Change: Zero to Three Research to Policy Project

CDF-Minnesota is increasing its attention on very early childhood with support from the Minnesota Community Foundation.

A rapidly growing body of research is demonstrating the harmful effects of poverty, caregivers’ depression and other negative environments on children’s brain development. Science is also providing policymakers and practitioners with proven approaches for avoiding the unnecessary costs associated with harm in children’s early years. Together with other partners funded by the foundation, CDF-Minnesota will work to improve early childhood outcomes, especially for children most vulnerable developmental harm. See Report on Maternal Depression.

CDF-MN News

2012 Legislative Session Will Include Push for Minimum Wage Hike
January 23, 2012, Public News Service & Litchfield Independent Review

Babies-Future MN workers-Come to the Capitol
January 23, 2012,

'Food insecurity' high among Twin Cities parents
January 20, 2012, MinnPost.com

Free tax preparation offered in Alexandria area (Bridge to Benefits)
January 20, 2012, Echo Press, Alexandria MN

Free Dental Care February 3 and 4 from Give Kids a Smile
January 18, 2012, Bridge to Benefits-Another Way CDF Helps Strengthen Families

		Bridge to Benefits
		Low Cost Health Care Directory
		KIDS COUNT

Food Support Blog 3 - My Personal Story

January 12, 2012,
How Food Programs Helped Me Thrive. This is the final in a series of three blogs on Food Support. Food Support is Minnesota’s version of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), but is known on the streets as “food stamps.” The first blog featured the history of Food Support and its economic boost to communities and the second analyzed recent and proposed Food Support legislation.

Read all CDF-MN Blogs»