advocacy

CACF advocates for improved policies, funding and services for Asian Pacific American children, youth, and families by targeting elected and appointed officials.

CACF participates in legislative visits, hearings, press conferences, budget visits, advisory committees, policy statements, and campaigns to ensure that children of all backgrounds grow up healthy and safe.

Click to read our Advocacy Agenda.

Click to learn more about Advocacy Institutes, our trainings on policy advocacy skills.

Child Welfare Advocacy Project

While the total number of families in the child welfare system has decreased by 50 percent in New York City, the number of Asian Pacific American families in this system has increased during the same time.  Unfortunately, there are only 5 Asian Pacific American agencies contracted to provide child abuse prevention services. The Child Welfare Advocacy Project aims to keep Asian Pacific American children safe and families together. In 2006, CACF worked with the Preventive Services Action Network and City Council Member Bill de Blasio to get $4.2 million in the City Budget for community-based preventive service programs to hire more caseworkers.

Click to read related research reports:

Connecting the Dots: Improving Neighborhood-Based Child Welfare Services for Asian Pacific American Families (March 2007; 33 pages)

Crossing the Divide: Asian American Families and The Child Welfare System (January 23, 2002; 24 pages)

Understanding the Laws on How You Can Discipline Your Children: A Guide for New Immigrant Families About Child Abuse and Neglect in New York (10 pages)

Opening the Door: A Survey of the Cultural Competence of Foster Care Preventive Services to Asian and Latino Families in New York City (August 1999; 29 pages)

Education Advocacy Project

One out of every four Asian Pacific American student does not graduate from high school on time or at all, and one out of every five English Language Learner student is Asian Pacific American. The Education Advocacy Project ensures that Asian Pacific American students have the academic and support services to succeed. In 2006, CACF worked with immigrant advocates to get the Mayor to give $12 million to the Department of Education to expand its Translation and Interpretation Unit.

Click to read related research reports:

Hidden in Plain View: An Overview of the Needs of Asian American Students in the Public School System (May 24, 2004; 40 pages)

Health Advocacy Project

One out of every two Asian Pacific American child is born into poverty, but Asian Pacific Americans are underenrolled in state health insurance programs. The Health Advocacy Project aims to improve the health and well-being of Asian Pacific American children, youth, and families. In 2007, $1.3 million in state funding. One out of every five Asian Pacific American in New York City has been uninsured in the past year.

Click to read more about Project CHARGE (Coalition for Health Access to Reach Greater Equity), our initiative to expand financial access to health care.

Asian Pacific Americans Healthy Eating and Active Living In our Neighborhoods (APA HEALIN’)
Supported by: National Asian American and Pacific Islander Network to Eliminate Health Disparities

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities.[1] Behavioral risk factors associated with this disease can be linked specifically to smoking, physical inactivity and nutrition.[2]

As a member of the National Asian American and Pacific Islander Network to Eliminate Health Disparities (NAPNEHD), APA HEALIN’ consists of 6 partners that serve the Nepali & South Asian communities in Jackson Heights, Queens (Adhikaar), the Filipino community in Woodside, Queens (Kalusugan Coalition), the Southeast Asian communities in Chinatown and the Bronx (Indochina Sino American Community Center) and the pan-Asian community throughout New York City (Asian Americans for Equality and the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families).  Dr. Kevin Nadal, assistant professor of psychology and mental health counseling at John Jay College, is also a member of the APA HEALIN’ and provides essential advisory and technical assistance services to the group.

Priority initiatives for the first year of APA HEALIN’ include:

• Conducting community assessments in New York City Asian Pacific American communities to: a.) examine nutrition and active living knowledge, attitudes and behavior, and b.) evaluate culturally appropriateness and reach of current food and active living initiatives.
• Creating a learning community that facilitates the sharing of information and collaboration throughout the NAPNEHD network and the AA and NHPI community
• Enhancing the capacity of the local APA HEALIN’ affiliates to reduce health disparities through policy change using the APPEAL Policy Change model
• Documenting and disseminating progress and performance of APA HEALIN’

To conduct the community assessments, we will use a combination of methods, including Photovoice, community mapping, and surveying.  Photovoice is a method that asks participants (youth, parents, and seniors in our case) to represent their community or point-of-view by taking photographs, discussing them together, developing narratives to go with their photos, and conducting outreach or other dissemination activity.  We are also including a community mapping approach in order to provide geographic information on the physical environment to accompany the photos and narratives.  Potential targets for mapping are places where community members play, exercise, shop, eat, and receive medical care. To complement these rich sources of qualitative data, we will conduct survey research to gain a broader understanding of food decisions within the family and community, as well as access to healthy food, recreational spaces and health care.

 

Language Access Task Force

Asian Pacific Americans have the highest rate of linguistic isolation (28 percent) in New York City, meaning that no one over the age of 14 in a household speaks English "very well." Unfortunately, many city agencies lack translation and interpretation services. CACF launched the Language Access Task Force to ensure that Asian Pacific American families have equal access to needed services. The Task Force is monitoring city agencies capacity to provide translated materials and bilingual staff.

Click to read related research reports:

Building Bridges: Increasing Language Access for the Asian Pacific American Community of New York City (January 2006; 12 pages)