Mission

The Children's Defense Fund-California (CDF-CA) is the state office of the Children's Defense Fund (CDF); a national child advocacy organization founded in 1973 by Marian Wright Edelman. Our Leave No Child Behind(r) mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.

What We Do

CDF-CA addresses institutional policies and practices that cause racial and economic disparities by combining policy research and advocacy with our signature community-centered programs. We are committed to serving the whole child by developing, promoting, and enforcing policies and programs that lift children and youth out of poverty, ensure their access to critical health and mental healthcare and quality and equitable education, and protect them from coming into contact with the justice system. Our programs include: CDF Beat the Odds(r) and the CDF Freedom Schools(r)