WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the nation navigates a complex and increasingly fraught political climate, the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) is preparing to bring together leading child advocates, policymakers, researchers, and community leaders for a pivotal national gathering. Set to take place in November 2026 at Howard University, the American Youth Policy Forum will focus heavily on how shifting political decisions and legislative choices are directly impacting the growth, security, and overall well-being of the 73 million children living across the United States.
Entitled "Doing Our First Works Over: The New State of America’s Children," the upcoming forum arrives at a critical juncture. According to organizers, the event is designed to serve as both a reflective space and a strategic launching pad for advocates from coast to coast. Attendees will examine the current state of public education, public health systems, and the safety net programs that millions of families rely on daily. With key institutions facing mounting pressure, the discussions will center on charting a resilient path forward to protect the nation’s youngest and most vulnerable populations.
The timing of the forum, scheduled for November 4 through November 5, 2026, places it immediately on the heels of the 2026 midterm elections. This proximity allows participants to address the immediate aftermath of the electoral cycle, analyzing what the results mean for youth policy, economic mobility, and systemic equity. The venue for the two-day event, the Blackburn University Center at Howard University, provides a historic backdrop for conversations addressing civil rights, equity, and the future of America’s next generation.
A central highlight of the gathering will be the official unveiling of the 2026 State of America’s Children® Report. This comprehensive publication serves as a vital benchmark for child advocacy, offering an exhaustive overview of how children are faring across a wide spectrum of well-being indicators. The report examines critical metrics including child population trends, national child poverty rates, income and wealth inequality, housing instability and homelessness, child hunger and nutrition, children’s health outcomes, early childhood education access, youth justice system dynamics, and the ongoing crisis of gun violence affecting young people.
Throughout the forum, panel sessions and keynote addresses will dissect the systemic pressures facing foundational support systems. Particular attention will be paid to the weakening of federal infrastructure, such as the Department of Education, alongside ongoing legislative and budgetary attacks on essential safety net programs. Programs like Head Start, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and Medicaid have historically formed the bedrock of child poverty reduction and health security. Organizers note that the erosion or underfunding of these programs has directly exacerbated existing challenges related to food security, childhood health disparities, and early childhood developmental support.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for the Children’s Defense Fund, emphasized that the discussions at the forum are designed to translate directly into sustained, long-term advocacy. Pointing to the calendar, she noted that while election days come and go, the daily struggle to secure a safe and equitable environment for children and youth remains an ongoing mandate.
"Election Day may be November 3, but the work for children and youth continues beyond that day," Packnett Cunningham stated. She explained that participants will collaboratively examine how upcoming political shifts will shape health, education, economic mobility, and general welfare, while actively identifying concrete strategies to pivot from uncertainty to decisive action.
Nick Vucic, National Director of Public Affairs for CDF, echoed these sentiments, framing the forum as an urgent response to a political climate that threatens to reverse decades of hard-fought progress in child welfare and civil rights. Vucic stressed that holding elected officials and national leaders accountable is paramount to ensuring that public policies genuinely serve the interests of young people rather than political agendas.
"At CDF, we work to ensure every child is safe and supported," Vucic said. "This means holding our nation’s leaders accountable so their policies and programs truly serve young people. We cannot allow decades of progress to be undone. Therefore, we must come together to shape policies that protect children’s futures and improve their daily lives. We plan to do just that at the 2026 American Youth Policy Forum, Powered by CDF."
The event will feature a diverse and distinguished roster of speakers and panelists who bring decades of expertise in health policy, economic justice, social welfare, and child advocacy. Among the featured participants are Rev. Leonard Burton, President and CEO of the Center for the Study of Social Policy; Annie Donovan, President and CEO of the Raza Development Fund; Dr. Daniel Eisenburg, Professor of Health Policy and Management at UCLA and co-author of Investing in Children’s Mental Health; and Bruce Lesley, President of First Focus on Children.
Additional featured speakers include Brittany Packnett Cunningham of CDF; Sharon Parrott, President of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Dr. Ramesh Raghavan, Professor of Social Work at New York University; Dr. Heidi Shierholz, President of the Economic Policy Institute; and Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, President and CEO of the Children’s Defense Fund. Their collective insights will guide attendees through complex policy analyses, ranging from pediatric mental health funding to broader macroeconomic strategies designed to combat family poverty.
Founded in 1973, the Children’s Defense Fund has spent over five decades operating as a leading national voice at the intersection of child well-being and racial justice. The organization envisions a nation where marginalized children can fully flourish, where public leaders consistently prioritize child-centric policies, and where local communities possess the resources and power to ensure their youth thrive. As the only national, multi-issue advocacy organization of its kind, CDF champions the needs of America’s most diverse generation—encompassing the 73 million children and youth under the age of 18, as well as 30 million young adults under the age of 25.
Through grassroots community organizing, legal advocacy, and educational initiatives like its renowned CDF Freedom Schools® program—which operates in nearly 100 cities across 30 states and territories—CDF continues to build institutional power for policies informed by racial equity and the lived experiences of young people. The upcoming November forum represents the next major chapter in this ongoing national effort, bringing together the nation’s foremost experts and advocates to confront current political realities and fight for the future of America’s children.
