Nichelle Mitchem

Kinship Care: Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

 

Many of today’s grandparents have become full-time caregivers for their grandchildren. United States Census 2000 indicates that 4.5 million of our nation’s poorest children reside in grandparent-headed households and that number is escalating rapidly. Data indicates that approximately one-third of these children have no parent present in the home. The number of children in grandparent-headed households has increased 30 percent since 1990.

Research data indicates that in New York, there are 297,239 children living in grandparent-headed households which constitutes 6.3% of all the children in that state. Twenty-eight percent of these grandparents live in households without the children’s parents present. The literature on this phenomenon suggests that there are probably many more children in informal care arrangements residing with their grandparents than the data can capture.

AARP indicates that the majority of grandparents rearing grandchildren are between ages 55 and 64. Approximately 20 to 25 percent are 65 or older. While grandparent-headed families cross all socio-economic levels, these grandparents are more likely to live in poverty than are other grandparents. AARP materials also state that there are eight times more children in grandparent-headed homes than in the foster care system.

Although the phenomenon of grandparents raising grandchildren is neither novel nor new, this emerging social issue is garnering a great deal of national attention due to its impact on the welfare of an ever increasing number of our nation’s children. The rise in the number of grandparent headed households is due to serious family problems. The reasons for the increase in grandparent headed households include but are not limited to: AIDS, abandonment, child abuse and neglect, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, death, divorce, incarceration, and the parent’s lack of employment.

Caring for their grandchildren can have life altering consequences for the grandparents. Many grandparents have not planned to raise a second family or may be retired and living on a fixed income. Having sufficient income or resources to provide housing, food, clothing, medicine, and school supplies for their grandchildren may be of critical concern. Research indicates that children raised by their grandparents are more likely than children in traditional foster care to live in poverty, to have special health and educational needs, and to lack access to health care.

While grandparents have played a significant role in the lives of their grandchildren for generations, the increasing numbers of grandparents with responsibility for their grandchildren and the rise in social factors necessitating this arrangement have created millions of vulnerable families with unique needs. For further information on the topic of grandparents raising grandchildren or to get help, please call or visit the website of: AARP’s Grandparent Information Center: 202-434-2296; and Generation’s United: 202-289-3979.

Sources: Children’s Defense Fund website, AARP’s Grandparent Information Center website, US Census Bureau, and Generations United website.

Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

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Appreciate and Celebrate Grandparents on National Grandparents Day

For more than thirty-five years, we have formally celebrated the role of grandparents in the lives of their grandchildren as a nation.

In 1978, the United States Congress passed legislation proclaiming the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day. President Jimmy Carter signed the proclamation. This year, National Grandparents Day will fall on Sunday, September 7th. Now more than ever before, we should celebrate grandparents and the expanding role they are playing in the lives of their grandchildren.

National Grandparent’s Day was founded to champion the cause of lonely elderly persons residing in nursing homes and to persuade their grandchildren to tap into the wisdom and heritage their grandparents could provide. It has grown to be a special day for all to celebrate the roles grandparents play in the family unit. Don’t forget to honor your grandparents on National Grandparents Day, Sunday, September 7th.

On Sunday, September 7th, remember to appreciate and celebrate your grandparents on National Grandparents Day.

Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

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“Who is Caring for an Ever Increasing Number of Our Nation’s Poorest Children?”

In the United States, child abuse and/or neglect are growing public health issues. The few cases of abuse and/or neglect which appear in the press are only a small part of this pressing public health issue. Many assert that a notable portion of the child abuse cases are not reported to police or social service agencies. What we do know about the prevalence of child abuse is as follows:
• 1,740 children died in the United States in 2008 from abuse and neglect.1
• 772,000 children were found to be victims of maltreatment by child protective services in 2008.1

In response to concerns regarding abandonment, abuse, and or neglect of their grandchildren, a growing number of grandparents have become full-time caregivers for their grandchildren. The 2000 United States Census indicates that 4.5 million of our nation’s poorest children reside in grandparent-headed households and that number is escalating rapidly. Data indicates that approximately one-third of these children have no parent present in the home. The number of children in grandparent-headed households has increased 30 percent since 1990.

Research data indicates that in New York, there are 297,239 children living in grandparent-headed households which constitutes 6.3% of all the children in that state. Twenty-eight (28) percent of these grandparents live in households without the children’s parents present. The literature on this phenomenon suggests that there are probably many more children in informal care arrangements residing with their grandparents than the data can capture.

AARP indicates that the majority of grandparents rearing grandchildren are between ages 55 and 64. Approximately 20 to 25 percent are 65 or older. While grandparent-headed families cross all socio-economic levels, these grandparents are more likely to live in poverty than are other grandparents. AARP materials also state that there are eight times more children in grandparent-headed homes than in the foster care system.

Although the phenomenon of grandparents raising grandchildren is neither novel nor new, this emerging social issue is garnering a great deal of national attention due to its impact on the welfare of an ever increasing number of our nation’s children. The rise in the number of grandparent headed households is due to serious family problems. The reasons for the increase in grandparent headed households include but are not limited to: abandonment, child abuse and neglect, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, death, divorce, incarceration, AIDS, and the parent’s lack of employment.

Caring for their grandchildren can have life altering consequences for the grandparents. Many grandparents have not planned to raise a second family or may be retired and living on a fixed income. Having sufficient income or resources to provide housing, food, clothing, medicine, and school supplies for their grandchildren may be of critical concern. Research indicates that children raised by their grandparents are more likely than children in traditional foster care to live in poverty, to have special health and educational needs, and to lack access to health care.

While grandparents have played a significant role in the lives of their grandchildren for generations, the increasing numbers of grandparents with responsibility for their grandchildren and the rise in social factors necessitating this arrangement have created millions of vulnerable families with unique needs. For further information on the topic of grandparents raising grandchildren or to get help, please call or visit the website of: AARP’s Grandparent Information Center: 202-434-2296; and Generation’s United: 202-289-3979.

Sources: Children’s Defense Fund website, AARP’s Grandparent Information Center website, US Census Bureau, Generations United website, Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, Child Welfare League of America, Center for Disease Control & Prevention, National Child Abuse Hotline, Child Welfare Information Gateway, FRIENDS National Resource Center, and the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child.

1. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth, and Families. Child Maltreatment 2008 [online]. Washington (DC): Government Printing Office; 2010. [cited 2010 Apr 8]. Available from: http://www.acf.hhs.gov.
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The Sequesters Impact on Children Youth and Families in Crisis

Children and families across our nation are being affected by sequester and by the failure of Congress and the Obama Administration to come to an agreement on how to restructure cuts that allowed eighty-five (85) billion dollars in automatic cuts to take effect last week. The impact of the cuts will be deep. The cuts that affect a wide range of programs and services that not only will touch upon the lives of children, but will affect their families as well.

As a result of the gridlock in Washington, many programs and services that children and their families have relied on will be cut back and in some cases cut out altogether. Vital services will be slashed to programs in education, Title I, special education, Head Start, nutrition assistance for women, infants and children, rental assistance, emergency employment compensation and mental health and substance abuse services.

In a few weeks is the March 27th deadline for a continuing resolution to extend funding of the government’s operations for the remainder of the year and to avoid a government shutdown. Congress will need to pass a spending bill that funds the government through September 2013 and will maintain the spending cuts caused by sequester. In May, there will be an increase in the debt ceiling to maintain the government’s ability to borrow money to pay its bills, and further down the road are the 2014 appropriations bills.

Spending on children in this country makes up less than 10 percent of all federal spending. In all these fiscal decisions, Congress will have an opportunity to restore some of the funding cuts to hardest hit programs that affect vulnerable children and families. Throughout it all, children must be held harmless in appropriations agreements and debt ceiling negotiations. There must be no new cuts. Childhood hunger continues to be a growing reality in America. In one of the wealthiest nations in the world, the prevalence of childhood hunger is a national travesty and for many a well-kept secret. Programs that our nation’s poorest children and youth depend on are on the line including but not limited to: TANF, WIC, SNAP, Medicaid, Head Start, child care, and Social Security. It has been reported that more than forty-nine (49) million Americans lack reliable access to the food.

We must compel President Obama and Congress reach a budget deal — so pressure to cut federal spending, particularly to programs for hungry and poor people, has never been higher. Every Washington interest group has been pounding the halls of Congress to weigh in on a multi-trillion dollar deal that that affects every federal program and every person in this country for decades to come. Unfortunately, the media and politicians are not talking about the tremendous impact that the deal will have on hungry and poor people. If we do not speak up, vulnerable people could easily be forgotten.

Congress needs to hear your voice about the importance of protecting programs that serve the poor. Advocates for vulnerable people need your help to remind Congress to take the deficit seriously without balancing the budget on the backs of hungry and poor people. Proverbs calls us to speak for those without a voice. We need your help to remind Congress that their budget decisions are moral choices that could have devastating consequences.

Call your elected officials in Washington today! Use our toll-and tell them to pass a budget deal that includes a circle of protection around programs for hungry and poor people in the United States and around the world.

Explain to your elected officials in Washington that any deal reached must:
• Explicitly protect low-income entitlement programs for hungry and poor people — like SNAP (formerly food stamps), the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Child Tax Credit — against cuts or harmful changes.
• Include additional tax revenue, balanced with responsible spending cuts so that our country can reduce its deficits while continuing its commitment to reducing hunger and poverty in the United States and around the world.
• Prevent further cuts to non-defense discretionary programs, including poverty-focused development assistance, international food aid, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

The President and Congress must reach a deal, but it is critical that Congress get it right. An imbalanced package will severely hamper our ability to address hunger and poverty for years to come. Call Congress today. If we wait, it will be too late.

According to the USDA, over seventeen (17) million children lived in food insecure (low food security and very low food security) households in 2009. ii Twenty (20) percent or more of the child population in sixteen (16) states and D.C. are living in food insecure households. The states of Arkansas twenty-four point four (24.4) percent and Texas twenty-three point three (24.3) percent have the highest rates of children in households without consistent access to food. (Cook, John, Child Food Insecurity in the United States: 2006-2008. iii
In 2009, households that had higher rates of food insecurity than the national average included households with children twenty-one point three (21.3) percent, especially households with children headed by single women thirty-six point six (36.6) percent or single men twenty-seven point eight (27.8) percent, Black non-Hispanic households twenty-four point nine (24.9) percent and Hispanic households twenty-six point nine (26.9) percent. v

These heartbreaking facts about the prevalence and the face of hunger in America and the proposed cuts to very necessary social service programs has drawn the attention of thousands of Christians, people of other faiths, heads of denominations, corporations, and nonprofit organizations and compelled them to take action. Will you join them and urge our elected officials to protect the programs poor children need[i] to succeed?

Everything from Pell Grants to food stamps could be cut by Congress. At the same time, the very wealthiest citizens in our nation continue to enjoy tax breaks while working families continue to struggle with high unemployment. More than one (1) in five (5) children lives in poverty and nearly one (1) in four (4) is at risk of hunger. Now is the time to speak up for children, youth, and families in crisis. Please join me in telling the members of the Super Committee to safeguard programs that the most vulnerable members of our society depend on particularly, in this very challenging economic period.

Reducing our nation’s long-term debt is critical, but hungry and poor people did not cause the problem, and cutting programs that help them will NOT significantly reduce our debt. But cutting these programs will have a devastating impact on the most vulnerable members of our society.

As Congress considers federal budget cuts, please join me in urging Congress to keep our nation’s commitment to those Jesus called “the least of these” by sending an email. Remind your members of Congress that we put them in office to care for all their constituents not simply the 1%.

When you contact members of Congress, your voice will be added to thousands calling on Congress to protect programs and services that benefit children, youth, and families in crisis. Please remind your elected officials in Washington that everyone deserves a chance.

Thank for you for lending your voice to support necessary programs and services for children.

Source(s): Voices for Americas Children. USDA. Bread for the World Action Alert. Rhoda Cohen, J. Mabli, F., Potter,Z., Zhoa. Hunger in America 2010. Feeding America. February 2010. Nord, Mark, M. Andrews, S. Carlson. United States Department of Agriculture/Economic Research Service, Household Food Security in the United States, 2008. Cook, John. Feeding America. Child Food Insecurity in the United States:2006-2008. Nord, Mark, M. Andrews, S. Carlson. United States Department of Agriculture/Economic Research Service, Household Food Security in the United States, 2009.

Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

[i] Very necessary programs such as Medicaid, food stamps, Head Start, child care, and more need your help.
iiBread for the World Action Alert.
iiRhoda Cohen, J. Mabli, F., Potter, Z., Zhoa. Hunger in America 2010. Feeding America. February 2010.
iiiNord, Mark, M. Andrews, S. Carlson. United States Department of
Agriculture/Economic Research Service, Household Food Security in the United States, 2008.
iv Cook, John. Feeding America. Child Food Insecurity in the United States: 2006-2008.
nor, Mark, M. Andrews, S. Carlson. United States Department of Agriculture/Economic Research Service, Household Food Security in the United States, 2009.

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Poverty in America Awareness Month 2013

Nichelle Mitchem Discusses Child Abuse Prevention

Recognizing the alarming  rate at which children are abused and neglected, the need for innovative  programs to prevent child abuse, and the importance of assisting  families affected by maltreatment, the month of April was designated at  National Child Abuse Prevention Month in 1983 by Presidential  Proclamation. Since then, child abuse and neglect awareness activities  have been promoted across the country.

With the goal of strengthening families, child abuse and neglect  awareness activities are promoted across the country during April. In  April, communities should seize the opportunity to help keep children  safe, provide the requisite support families need to stay together, and  raise children and youth to be happy, secure, and stable adults. The  Child Welfare League (CWLA) gives guidance on activities that each of us  can take to help prevent child abuse and neglect. Here is CWLA’s list  of ten actions that we can take to help prevent child abuse.

Ten Things You Can Do

Volunteer your time. After-school activities, parent  education classes, mentoring programs, and respite care are some of the  many ways to keep children safe from harm. Be a voice in support of  these efforts in your community.

Discipline your children thoughtfully. Remember that  discipline is a way to teach your child. Use privileges to encourage  good behavior and time-outs to help your child regain control. Both  words and actions can inflict deep, lasting wounds.

Support prevention programs.
 

Know what child abuse is, and what the signs are. Physical and sexual abuse clearly constitute maltreatment, but so does  neglect, or the failure of parents or other caregivers to provide a  child with needed food, clothing, and care. Children can also be  emotionally abused when they are rejected, berated, or continuously  isolated.
 

Report abuse. If you witness a child being harmed or  see evidence of abuse, or if a child tells you about abuse, make a  report to your state’s child protective services department or local  police.

Invest in kids. Encourage leaders in the community  to be supportive of children and families. Ask employers to provide  family-friendly work environments. Ask your local and national lawmakers  to support legislation to better protect our children and to improve  their lives.

Write, visit, fax, phone, or e-mail your elected officials.

Participate in ceremonies to memorialize children. Read the names of children lost to violence in your state, hold a  candlelight vigil, or host an event at your state capital to remember  those children who were lost to violence.

Raise public awareness.

Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

 

National Grandparent’s Day

Tomorrow, Sunday, September 9th, 2012, is National Grandparent’s Day. Grandparents’ Day was founded to champion the cause of lonely elderly persons residing in nursing homes and to encourage their grandchildren to tap into the wisdom and heritage their grandparents could provide. It has grown to be a special day for all to celebrate the roles grandparents play in the family unit.

On National Grandparents’ Day, it is a great idea for grandchildren to identify favorite photos in the family albums with their grandparents. Countless joyous memories can be derived from viewing the photo albums. National Grandparent’s Day is a time to discover one’s roots and learn patience, understanding and appreciation for the elderly. National Grandparents Day is an ideal time to enhance communication between generations.

For more than thirty (30) years, we have formally celebrated the role of grandparents in the lives of their grandchildren as a nation. In 1978, the United States Congress passed legislation proclaiming the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day. President Jimmy Carter signed the proclamation.

Now more than ever before, we should celebrate grandparents and the expanding role they are playing in the lives of their grandchildren. Don’t forget to honor your grandparents on National Grandparents Day, Sunday, September 9th. For further information on National Grandparents Day, visit www.grandparents-day.com.

Sources: Wikipedia. www.grandparents-day.com. Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art.

Tell Congress: Protect Older Americans

May is Older Americans Month—and in recognition, many of my posts will seek to raise awareness about the challenges confronting a growing number of elderly persons including but not limited to hunger. Feeding America’s Hunger in America 2010 study unearthed some startling facts about senior hunger that everyone should know: “ In 2010, 7.9 percent of households with seniors (2.3 million households) were at risk; 30 percent of client households with seniors indicated that they have had to choose between food and medical care and 35 percent have had to choose between food and paying for heat/utilities; In 2009, nearly 9 million people over the age of 50 and nearly 4 million people over the age of 60 lived in at-risk households.”

Older Americans’ struggles with hunger are often invisible. It’s too easy for most of us to overlook how many seniors have serious trouble accessing the food and nutrition required to survive and thrive. Often, elderly persons are forced to make the unenviable decisions between food, medicine, or paying their utilities or rent. As a nation, we owe a great deal to the generations that helped build this country—we simply cannot allow one of our most vulnerable populations to suffer in silence any longer. Will you help to fight hunger for the most vulnerable members of our society?

Tell Congress: Protect Older Americans

As a nation, we owe a great deal to the generations that helped build our country—we simply cannot allow one of our most vulnerable populations to suffer in silence any longer. Will you help us to bring attention to the plight of the elderly?

The House Agriculture Committee is still taking comments to help them decide what programs and services should be preserved and what should be cut under the Farm Bill. Help protect SNAP, TEFAP, and CSFP today:

Visit the House Agriculture Committee Farm Bill Feedback Page.

Post a comment urging them to pass a strong Farm Bill that protects programs like SNAP, TEFAP, and CSFP, which help provide food for millions of America’s most vulnerable seniors.

Cuts to SNAP (food stamps)—like the ones currently under consideration in the Farm Bill—would further limit access to the food and nutrition programs that millions of older Americans rely on. Meanwhile, the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), which provides monthly boxes of food to low-income seniors, faces its own funding threats. These issues matter. What will seniors do if they no longer have access to these vital programs?

Throughout Older Americans Month, I will let you know how you can help raise awareness and fight senior hunger. Today, you can let your U.S. Representative know you want SNAP, TEFAP, and CSFP protected.

Help advocates for the children, youth, families, and the elderly build a movement to protect and strengthen programs that put food on the table for hungry Americans.

Source(s): Feeding America’s Hunger in America 2010

Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

Help Vulnerable Families Call Congress

Currently, Congress is deciding whether to extend unemployment insurance benefits past their February 29th expiration date. If they do not reach an agreement, five million workers risk losing their benefits. “The unemployment benefits these struggling families receive kept at least 3.3 million Americans from falling into poverty in 2009 alone, including 1.5 million children.”

It has been reported by the AFL-CIO that the “tea party” politicians are pushing plans to:

• “Slash federal unemployment funding by more than half in the states with the highest unemployment.
• Let states whose governments have been taken over by the tea party divert premium money away from unemployment as we know it—and use it to experiment with right-wing social engineering programs (like “workfare,” where people are forced to work for free to get unemployment benefits).
• Mandate drug testing requirements. Politicians are ready to humiliate people who are out of work—by making them urinate in a cup to get benefits they paid for and are entitled to.
• Make jobless workers pay for their re-employment services. People who are out of work through no fault of their own and have paid into the system aren’t asking for a handout—but a helping hand. Now, the radical lawmakers want to make them to pay for the privilege.
• Deny benefits to people who never got their high school diploma lose their right to benefits—they’d have unemployment insurance taken out of their paycheck—but will get nothing should they lose their job. Shame!
• Cut federal employee pensions—or freezing wages for yet another year. Federal workers have already done more than their fair share to balance the budget—while the richest 1% of Americans have been asked to do absolutely nothing.”

Until the national unemployment rate shows measurable signs of improvement and the economy begins generating meaningful numbers of jobs, the program of federal jobless benefits should be continued by Congress. With that said, it is time for each of us to tell our elected officials in Washington to ensure that ALL Americans can weather the current economic storm. To accomplish said goal, call 1-888-245-3381 NOW and ask your elected officials to extend federal unemployment insurance benefits.

9 to 5 prepared this script to assist us in placing this very necessary call to our members of congress. It reads as follows: “When connected to your Congress person’s office, please tell him or her: Your name, where you are from, and that you are a constituent. Please tell _____________ that I’m counting on [him or her] to pass the necessary legislation to extend federal unemployment insurance benefits. Thank you.”

“What is at stake if these benefits are allowed to expire? Over two (2) million women stand to lose this critical lifeline in 2012. More than a quarter of a million of these women are single parents. For many of them, federal unemployment benefits may be the difference between staying afloat and falling into poverty.” We can’t allow politicians to play games with this vital lifeline for hardworking families. Please call or write your Senator today. Tell Congress to extend unemployment insurance through 2012 – without adding difficult, new requirements for unemployed workers.

Hardworking Americans – who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own – could lose benefits that they have paid into and that their families depend on. As stated previously in this post, some members of Congress are threatening to use this critical deadline to cut unemployment insurance or impose difficult, new restrictions on jobless Americans. You can make the difference in the lives of countless families in your state by calling Washington and urging your elected officials to extend unemployment benefits. Call and/or write your Senator now. Tell Congress to put their games aside and do what’s right for unemployed workers. Again, please call 1-888-245-3381 today and ask your elected officials in Washington and urge them to act NOW to pass a bill to prevent federal unemployment insurance benefits from being cut off this holiday season.

Source: The National Association of Working Women. AFL-CIO.

Photo credit: Microsoft Clip Art

Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Reauthorization

Not all homes provide a safe haven. For the victims of domestic violence, home is a place where hearts and lives are broken. Family violence spares no one. The partner who is battered and the children who watch, or who themselves may be abused, all suffer. Their physical and emotional pain is long-lasting.

Domestic violence continues to pose a clear and present danger to the health and well-being of women. For far too many women violence and danger are their constant companions. Yet, domestic violence is a subject that we, as a society, are reluctant to talk about. As a result, victims often suffer and die in silence. And despite the intense media attention recently focused on a few high profile courtroom cases, the public remains largely uninformed about the nature and warning signs of domestic violence.

Until recently, domestic violence was viewed as a “private family matter” as opposed to a crime against society with potentially lethal consequences. Increasingly our public institutions—law enforcement, the courts, policy makers, health care providers, and social service providers—are recognizing incidents of domestic violence as violent criminal acts with devastating consequences for individual victims, their children, and the community, and are seeking effective methods for dealing with this pressing public health issue. Community support and involvement are integral parts of domestic violence prevention and intervention. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) has provided funding for much needed supportive programs for victims of domestic violence.

The National Task to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women in its recent action alert reminds us that the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is due for reauthorization. In 2011, it was reported that Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), introduced a bipartisan bill to reauthorize and improve VAWA. In its action alert, the National Task Force indicates that it has worked closely with them on “…the bill to ensure that it will not only continue proven effective programs, but that it will make key changes to streamline VAWA and make sure that even more people have access to safety, stability and justice.”

The National Task to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women reminds us that it is important to ensure that the Senators on the list below support the bill. With that said, if you live in any of the states listed below, please call your Senator(s) TODAY and ask for them to support VAWA reauthorization. It is critical to VAWA’s reauthorization to get and keep our elected officials telephones ringing.

To assist you in placing your call, the National Task to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women’s action alert provides the following talking points and contact information for your elected officials in Washington, DC.

“Talking points:

We know that Senator _________ cares about ending domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking.

The Violence Against Women Act is critical to our ability to address these crimes in our state.

There is evidence showing that VAWA has saved millions of dollars and countless lives.

We are asking for you to be an original co-sponsor of the Leahy/Crapo bill that will be introduced on Wednesday.

Please contact Anya McMurray or Noah Bookbinder at (202)224-7703 to sign on to the bill.”

Alabama

Sessions, Jeff – (202) 224-4124

Shelby, Richard – (202) 224-5744

Arkansas

Boozman, John – (202) 224-4843

Alaska

Murkowski, Lisa – (202) 224-6665

Arizona

McCain, John – (202) 224-2235

Kyl, Jon – (202) 224-4521

Florida

Rubio, Marco – (202) 224-3041

Georgia

Chambliss, Saxby – (202) 224-3521

Isakson, Johnny – (202) 224-3643

Idaho

Crapo, Mike – (202) 224-6142 – (thank him!)

Risch, James – (202) 224-2752

Illinois

Kirk, Mark – (202) 224-2854

Indiana

Lugar, Richard – (202) 224-4814

Coats, Daniel – (202) 224-5623

Iowa

Grassley, Chuck – (202) 224-3744

Louisiana

Vitter, David – (202) 224-4623

Kansas

Moran, Jerry – (202) 224-6521

Roberts, Pat – (202) 224-4774

Kentucky

McConnell, Mitch – (202) 224-2541

Paul, Rand – (202) 224-4343

Maine

Collins, Susan – (202) 224-2523

Snowe, Olympia – (202) 224-5344

Massachusetts

Brown, Scott – (202) 224-4543

Mississippi

Cochran, Thad – (202) 224-5054

Wicker, Roger – (202) 224-6253

Missouri

Blunt, Roy – (202) 224-5721

Nebraska

Johanns, Mike – (202) 224-4224

Nevada

Heller, Dean – (202) 224-6244

New Hampshire

Ayotte, Kelly – (202) 224-3324

North Carolina

Burr, Richard – (202) 224-3154

North Dakota

Hoeven, John – (202) 224-2551

Ohio

Portman, Rob – (202) 224-3353

Oklahoma

Coburn, Tom – (202) 224-5754

Inhofe, James – (202) 224-4721

Pennsylvania

Toomey, Patrick – (202) 224-4254

South Carolina

DeMint, Jim – (202) 224-6121

Graham, Lindsey – (202) 224-5972

South Dakota

Thune, John – (202) 224-2321

Tennessee

Alexander, Lamar – (202) 224-4944

Corker, Bob – (202) 224-3344

Texas

Cornyn, John – (202) 224-2934

Hutchison, Kay Bailey – (202) 224-5922

Utah

Hatch, Orrin – (202) 224-5251

Lee, Mike – (202) 224-5444

Wisconsin

Johnson, Ron – (202) 224-5323

Wyoming

Enzi, Michael – (202) 224-3424

Barrasso, John – (202) 224-6441

Please join me in contacting our elected officials to remind them of the importance of reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). With an equal amount of conscience, mind, heart, and collective action, we can eradicate domestic violence.

Source(s): National Task to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women

Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

Election Day

Today is Election Day? Across the country critical state and municipal elections are taking place. Get out and vote today! The elections taking place today range from referendums to state legislatures polls to gubernatorial matchups. Whatever the local or state election, it’s vital that you make your voice heard. Get involved. Take action that can and will change the future. If you are not already registered, get registered to vote. Seize the opportunity to cast your vote. As was aptly stated by President Johnson when discussing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, “The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.”

Saturday, July 16th 2011, was declared National Day of Action by the Democratic Party. Across the country there are efforts being made to bring new supporters into the campaign. It has been reported that volunteers in all 50 states will be knocking on doors and registering new voters. The overarching goal for this campaign is to register voters in order to ensure: the reelection of President Barack Obama and that Democrats take back the United States House
of Representatives.

This summer, important action was taken to bring more people into the political process- thus making certain that every voter who wants to exercise their right is registered. There are three stages in the voter empowerment process: registration, education, and mobilization. Today, Democratic supporters can join a national day of action dedicated to voter registration. Get involved. Your vote can be decisive, stand up, speak out, be heard— vote!

Each election day, countless eligible voters deprive themselves of their voting right through complacency or apathy. Don’t be among them—exercise your right to vote.

Source:[email protected]. Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art