Voices for Utah Children Articles

  • Support HB 30 The Indian Family Preservation Act

    This legislative session, Utah has the opportunity to support Native children and families by passing HB 30, the Indian Family Preservation Act Amendments. This bill would allow tribes to establish foster home standards and oversee child custody cases,...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Martín C. Muñoz and Laneta Fitisemanu
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • SB 221: Stand Up for Safe Child Care

    Utah lawmakers could do many things to alleviate the child care crisis families are facing. In fact, there are 33 expert-recommended ones right here, thanks to the state’s newest child care solutions study. Endangering kids' safety by lowering...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Moana 'Ulu'ave
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • Five Cuts In: How Utah Lawmakers Are Dismantling the Income Tax

    Key Takeaways Minimal Savings, Major Loss: Another tax cut in 2026 will remove $87M from essential services, pushing total cuts to about $1.5B annually – funds that could strengthen schools, childcare, and healthcare. Wealthy Win, Families Lose: From...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Jenna Williams
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • Another Year, Another Tax Cut: Who Benefits?

    Key Takeaways Minimal Savings, Major Loss: Another tax cut in 2025 will remove about $100M from essential services, pushing total cuts to about $1.3B annually—funds that could strengthen schools, childcare, and healthcare. Wealthy Win, Families Lose:...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Jenna Williams
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • What Happened With Child Care During the 2025 Legislative Session?

    This 2025 session, supporting families with young children remained a top policy priority of Voices for Utah Children. The urgent need to address families' critical child care needs remained at the forefront of our advocacy efforts. This session was...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Jenna Williams
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • The Real Costs of Erasing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs

    Since 2023, anti-DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) bills have become law across multiple states. These bills typically target restricting DEI offices and staff, DEI training, diversity statements, and identity-based hiring practices. On January...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Alejandra Martinez
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • Voices for Utah Children 2025 Legislative Priorities

    Looking to the 2025 Legislative Session, Voices for Utah Children remains committed to speaking out for all those Utahns who can’t vote but are greatly impacted by public policy: our kids! Despite an increasingly difficult state policy climate, we...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Anna Thomas
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • Vouchers 101: The Basics of Utah's New School Privatization Program

    For the first time, during the 2024-25 school year, Utah parents are able to access public taxpayer funding to enroll their child in private religious schools, or to cover home-schooling expenses. In this post, we’ll talk about the basics of how the...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Anna Thomas
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • How the Kentucky Model Would Help Utah’s Child Care Providers Help More Kids

    This year, the Utah State Legislature passed House Bill 461 with overwhelming support. Sponsored by Rep. Ashlee Matthews and Sen. Luz Escamilla, HB 461 aims to recruit and retain more child care professionals using the “Kentucky Model.” This model...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Jenna Williams
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • Tracking Utah's K-12 Education Funding

    It’s official: Utah returns to ranking last in the nation for per-pupil education spending. While the national average is $15,633, Utah’s spending stands at $9,552 per student, placing the state 51st for Fiscal Year 2022.[i] Let’s dive into the data to...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Jenna Williams, Taylor Throne
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • Bad for Kids: Important Information on Amendment A

    The well-deserved negative attention to Amendment D–ruled void by a Utah judge for being “false and misleading”–has more people asking, “What exactly is in Amendment A?” To start, there are several similarities between Amendments A and D: Voices for...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Anna Thomas
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • Embracing Every Student: The Importance of Supporting Multilingual Learners in Utah

    Multilingual students are a vibrant and enriching part of our school communities. In Utah, 59,147 students in the K-12 system are Multilingual Learners (ML), also known as English Language Learners or English Learners. They bring diverse backgrounds...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Liliana Bolaños
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • What the Legislature’s New Constitutional Amendment Means for Education

    As the November elections approach, one crucial issue on the ballot is the proposed amendment to end the constitutional mandate Utah voters passed decades ago, directing the legislature to use state income tax to fund public education. This proposal...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Abdikadir Eftin, Anna Thomas
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • Promising Child Care Bill Faces Roadblock in Agency Implementation

    Our childcare system has been in crisis for years. Families can't afford to pay, and costs keep climbing. Childcare providers struggle to make a living, with only their passion for kids to keep them going. So, what is the state government going to do...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Jenna Williams, Anna Thomas
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • 2024 State of Kids Coverage Report: The Path Taken & the Journey Ahead

    Much has changed since the 2019 State of Children's Health Coverage Report. Over the past five years, we have made significant strides at the local and federal health policy levels shaping access to healthcare for children in our state. The journey has...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Ciriac Alvarez Valle, Thaiss Del Rio, Laneta Fitisemanu
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • Why We Advocate for Juvenile Justice Reform in Utah

    Our team at Voices for Utah Children is proud to support juvenile justice reforms in Utah that are more effective and efficient for all involved. Recently, we’ve actively engaged in advocacy for reform since 2016, when state leadership embarked on a...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Anna Thomas
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • A Rough Legislative Session for Utah Kids (Again)

    The 2024 Utah Legislative Session ended at midnight on Friday, March 1. For the Voices for Utah Children team, this session included supporting a lot of community engagement, working hard to protect the programs that protect Utah kids, and trying not...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Anna Thomas
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • What Happened With Child Care During the 2024 Legislative Session?

    As we entered the 2024 session, supporting families with young children remained a top policy priority of Voices for Utah Children. At the forefront of our advocacy efforts is the urgent need to address the critical child care needs of these families....

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Jenna Williams
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • FAQs on HB 153: Child Care Revisions

    Representative Susan Pulsipher’s HB 153: Child Care Revisions narrowly passed the Utah State Legislature on February 28, 2024, and was signed by the Governor on March 14, 2024. Initially proposed as a child tax credit expansion initiative, HB 153 has...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Jenna Williams
    • Category: Updates & Blog

  • Voices Opposes Legislative Efforts to Suppress Public Ballot Initiatives

    Our organization recognizes the importance of standing against policies that jeopardize the well-being of Utah’s children. We believe that regular community members have the right and responsibility to influence decisions about policies that affect...

    • Type: Article
    • Author: Anna Thomas
    • Category: Updates & Blog
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