Blog Category: State Advocacy

Over the last several years, behavioral health has been a primary focus for policymakers in Virginia. Efforts made by the Deeds Commission, as well as our Medicaid and behavioral health agencies,…

The 2019 General Assembly Session ended without as many big ideas for early education as it started with. Nonetheless, we still making progress to ensure that more low-income children have access…

In 2018, Voices and our partners worked to raise awareness of issues children and their families encountered in foster care. We successfully helped pass the Kinship Guardianship Assistance program, which…

Every year, Voices for Virginia’s Children monitors all legislation introduced to the Virginia General Assembly and advocates for public policies that improve the lives of Virginia’s children. Our children’s mental…

For the nearly 500 youth who age out of Virginia’ Foster Care system, only 2% of them will graduate with a degree from a four year university. In fact, currently…

We are now past the halfway point of the 2019 legislative session. We are pleased to report progress on our Unified Agenda for the Campaign for a Trauma-Informed Virginia. On…

The House and Senate released their versions of the State budget on Sunday, February 3rd. Between the House and Senate budget recommendations, all mental health budget requests advocated for were…

Last year we called for some big ideas for early childhood education in Virginia. During the 2019 General Assembly session we are seeing those ideas take shape in the form…

The Governor’s budget proposal included funding to sustain VPI+ classrooms in 13 school divisions. Additionally, the Governor requested funding for new quality initiatives targeted at Virginia Preschool Initiative classrooms, included required…

Learning to drive in the teen years is a rite of passage to young adulthood for millions of youth. It brings new levels of independence and opportunities, enabling young people…