Overview

Families need help. That's the message that every parent will tell you, as costs strain family budgets. That includes both financial help and respect for the diversity of families in our nation, including policies to support:

• Balancing Work and Family through Family Leave programs for time off to care for a new child or an ailing family member, Promoting Flexible Work Schedules to adjust work to family needs, giving Time off for Childrens Educational Activities and Paid Sick Days Off when individuals or their family are ill, Restricting Mandatory Overtime to avoid unexpected burdens on families, Preventing Discrimination Based on Family Responsibilities to protect the civil rights of parents, supporting  Child Care, Early Education and Afterschool Programs to strengthen early education and help parents cope with the burden and rising costs of care, as well as Making Contraception Available to assure that family additions come when families want them.

• Health Care for All programs to promote Affordable, Quality Health Care for All,  Strategies to Extend Coverage to Uninsured, programs that  Improve Quality and Cut Health Care Costs, and a commitment to  Stop Health Care Industry Profiteering at the expense of working families.

• Affordable Housing policies from Ending Predatory Lending, Inclusionary Zoning, Rent Control, Commercial Linkage Strategies, Public Housing & Vouchers, and Community Land Trusts.

• Pension Protection & Asset Accumulation programs to help families save for the future, including Raising the Estate Tax to provide a fair income source for equal opportunity for all,  programs to promote Asset Building for All Children and Progressive Saving Incentives through the tax code to assist in building economic security for families.

• Respect all Families in our communities, including Gay & Lesbian families, Single Parents and immigrant families

• Education is an increasing priority and expense for families, so states need to support Early Education, a Quality K-12 Education, College Education, and Adult Retraining to support lifelong learning.

• Integrating Immigrant Families into Our Communities is both a challenge and an opportunity, where we need Wage Law Enforcement to prevent abuses of immigrant workers, Immigrant Integration and Naturalization to strengthen their inclusion in our communities, a fair inclusion of Immigrants in our Public Benefits systems, a commitment to prevent "Voter ID" Attacks aimed at immigrants that disenfranchise citizens, and the use of Immigrant Outreach as Public Safety and Anti-Terror Policy to make our communities safer.