Children's Defense Fund

In this essay, I will be presenting a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) called The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) and discussing its relationship to the International Human Rights movement. First, we must establish what is an NGO. An NGO is an independent entity which works alongside governments to advocate for Human Rights and related issues. These entities usually work on a voluntary basis, and rely on donations from individuals, governments or private companies to conduct their business.

The Children’s Defense Fund is a private American non-profit child advocacy organization, which works to ensure equal rights for all children. With financial support from individual donors, foundations, and government and corporate grants, the CDF policies
Evidently, from as early as 1975, this fund can be seen in action as it championed federal legislation with benefits for children, with the emergence of the Education for All Handicapped Act (Public Law 94-142) also known as the Individuals with Disabilities Act. This act appealed to all schools that receive public funding to provide meaningful access and education for all handicapped children. (Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (2017).). The fund continued its positive and influential capabilities in 1980 with the introduction of Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act. This act single handily improved the foster care program to help improve the welfare and lives of needy children in the social care system. Civic Impulse. (2017). Even with these two major accomplishments under its grip, the Children’s Defense Fund did not stop its efforts there. As recent as 2008, the fund has been a major beneficiary for the very popular ‘American Idol’ show, as it teamed up with the Idol Give Back Campaign working to promote positive (Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The funds previous association with Hillary Clinton was attacked after Hillary was called out on the decisions she made to sign off on an agreement to ban Medicaid. In 1965, the CDF established Medicaid which is a joint federal-state entitlement program that subsides insurance coverage for children, low-income families, expecting mothers, and blind, old or disabled persons. Passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2009 gave states a new opportunity to expand coverage to all Americans age 19-64 with incomes below 138 percent of poverty. Children’s Defense Act. (2017). The ban negatively impacted low-income mothers and children and CDF was accused of having a biased support to the Clinton administration. This created negative publicity for the fund and critics reported that the fund was not