The Children’s Defense Fund-NY (CDF-NY) is one of the seven regional offices of the national Children’s Defense Fund. It was created to address the needs and advocate on behalf of poor children and youth in NYS, especially those of color or with disabilities. It focuses on state policy advocacy and campaigns, literacy and leadership development through its Freedom School literacy model and coordinated movement-building with communities in the areas of youth justice, child welfare, education justice, health equity and economic mobility. This grant provides general operating support to aid CDF-NY in its mission to ensure every child has a healthy start, head start, fair start, safe start and moral start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.