Blog Category: State Advocacy

Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: Addressing Preschool Suspension and Expulsion in Virginia It is well documented that the first years of life are critical for building the foundation of social-emotional development…

On January 15th Voices hosted its first-ever foster & kinship care youth advocacy day with a youth cohort that was selected in September. In November, the cohort participated in an…

Foster care is a state-run program that provides temporary care for children who cannot live with their parents or other relatives. Through this system, the local department of social services…

Dear Advocates, We are thankful for your tireless support! With your support last year, we had a successful 2019 GA Session, and we looked forward to seeing all that we…

What’s in the Governor’s Budget for children’s mental health? Highlights from the Governor’s Introduced Budget: 2020-2022 On December 17th, Governor Northam presented his proposed  biennium budget to the Joint Money…

During the 2019 legislative session, the General Assembly took major steps forward to address the challenges within our foster care system that were identified in the JLARC report. In 2019, the first-ever bi-partisan…

As we learned from the exciting announcements from December 9th on maternal health and December 10th on early education, Governor Northam’s FY2021-2022 budget makes significant investments in healthy births and…

We are gearing up for the 2020 General Assembly Session and want YOU to be prepared to make your voice heard! Here is your “Advocacy Toolkit” so you can be…

Local Town Hall Meetings 12/12/19:First Pre-Session Town Hall – Delegate VanValkenburg and Delegate Willett 12/12/19: Town Hall Meeting– Delegate McQuinn 12/14/19: Legislative Town Hall–  Senator Boysko and Delegate Delaney 12/14/19:…

The 2020 General Assembly could transform early childhood education in Virginia for many years to come. It is well past time to strengthen our health, education and family support systems…