September News
There’s a moment in childbirth called transition when everything intensifies – emotions are bigger, pain is sharper, and it’s not uncommon for the person giving birth, overwhelmed with fear and exhaustion, to cry “I can’t do it!” The same dynamic plays out in social change movements. Right now, we are navigating backlash against decades of painstaking progress toward equity and justice. We are reeling from the impacts, but when it comes to our kids’ futures, we must dig deep, tap into our shared power, and deliver the world they deserve.
There is almost always a delay between the passage of policies and their felt impact to allow time for implementation…or to support a political objective. Federal cuts to SNAP and Medicaid, including bad-faith bureaucratic barriers dressed up as “work requirements,” are estimated to cost Vermont nearly $200 million in federal funding by 2029, with effects on employment, access to health care, food insecurity, and other economic impacts rippling through families and communities. We can’t wait to act – reach out to your neighbors, connect with your legislators, and start thinking about how you can be a part of helping to maintain Vermont’s safety net for kids and families as federal revenue streams shrink.
Actions you can take TODAY:
Join the Fair Share Vermont campaign to ensure Vermont raises the revenue we need to support kids and families.
Be one of the 802 Reasons for the legislature to pass universal paid leave! Your reason can be anything from a personal story to a simple statement of values. We’ll deliver them directly to the Legislature to show how much paid leave matters to Vermonters. Share with friends to help us reach our goal of 802 stories!
Voices Staff transition
This summer we said goodbye to Policy Director Amy Rose, who moved on to a new role with Vermont Care Partners. Amy was a member of the Voices team in a number of roles for 12 years, and had a tremendous impact on the child welfare policy landscape. She coordinated the successful effort to establish the Office of Child, Youth, and Family Advocate, and has been a tenacious voice for the rights of children. We wish her well.
Policy Priority Planning for 2026
Voices is in the planning phase for the coming legislative session. As a small team confronting a vast landscape of policy threats and opportunities for kids and youth, it can be daunting to set an audacious-yet-achievable agenda. For the next couple months we’ll be listening to our partners and stakeholders in communities, researching policy solutions, and developing policy priorities that focus our capacity where it will have the biggest impact. Do you have thoughts? Be in touch!
Curious about what we’ve been up to leading up to this realignment? Read on to learn how Voices has been engaging with priority issues like child protection, education, health, paid leave, economic justice, and youth rights.
Summer Updates
Child Protection
Voices sits on the Act 154 Stakeholders Group, a project reforming Vermont’s substantiation procedures relating to child abuse and neglect. As we adjust to our staff change and step back from some of our child protection work, we hope to support other organizations in this policy area.
Education
Voices is working closely with our partners to understand and respond to the long-term repercussions of Act 73, an act relating to transforming Vermont’s education governance, quality, and finance systems; which passed despite significant opposition from educators, students, community members, and advocates around the state. This Act outlines the framework created by the Scott administration and the legislature for restructuring Vermont’s public education system: creating mega districts through school district consolidation; eliminating local school boards and centralizing decision-making and governance; and replacing one of the most equitable school tax systems in the nation with a foundation formula that will markedly change how school funding is distributed. Voices is calling on our members to join organizing efforts to support students, teachers, and rural communities, and to bring your voices to the redistricting task force that will meet this summer and fall.
For more about what we know and don’t know about Act 73, see Public Assets Institute’s Education Reform Resource Hub.
Economic Justice
Voices continues to advance economic justice policy through our work with the economic security coalition, as well as through ongoing engagement and advocacy relating to Reach Up, Vermont’s cash assistance program for families. Voices also sits on the Baby Bonds Task Force, supporting implementation of a policy designed to address the impacts of inter-generational poverty by investing in bonds for every child born on Medicaid, that can be accessed when they reach adulthood.
Oral Health
Voices recently collaborated with the Vermont Language Justice Project to produce an informational video in 20 languages about silver diamine fluoride (SDF), an inexpensive, pain-free treatment that stops tooth decay without anesthesia or drills and can be administered in community settings, addressing a key barrier to access. Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease of childhood, with tremendous impacts on overall health and wellbeing. Voices is working with a statewide advisory group and community oral health action teams to push for access to treatment that is safe, cost-effective, and responsive to people’s health needs. Learn more about the project.
Paid Leave
Voices Paid Leave Coalition Manager, Emmett Avery, has been working with the Vermont Paid Leave Coalition to launch a new campaign: 802 Reasons VT Needs Paid Leave. Through December 2025, the coalition will be working to gather (at least!) 802 reasons why Vermonters support universal paid leave, and we need to hear from you! Once the Coalition gathers a Vermont’s worth of reasons, we’ll deliver them directly to the Legislature to make sure every lawmaker knows how much paid leave matters to their constituents. Share why YOU support paid leave today!
Youth Rights
Voices is a proud member of the Rise Up for Youth Coalition, an effort dedicated to protecting and uplifting queer and trans youth, BIPOC youth, and youth with disabilities from the impacts of today's challenging political and social climate. Our Community Engagement Director, Kit Harrington, represented Voices at a day-long retreat last month, as we worked to build connections across the coalition and identify more opportunities to work together to affirm youth rights. You can learn more about the coalition and sign on to our statement here.