Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families Our work includes:

Protecting Children. In 1983, our research into juvenile court hearings led to a major overhaul of the state's juvenile justice system.

Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families' mission is to ensure that all children and their families have the resources and opportunities they need to lead healthy and productive lives and to realize their full potential. Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families was founded in 1977 by a group of prominent Arkansans who believed that children needed an "independent force to provide informati

on and education to parents and citizens about our state's policies toward children and families." For more than 30 years, AACF has provided leadership, research and advocacy to promote wide-ranging reforms that have improved the lives of Arkansas children, and we have never been afraid to lead the way when the need arose. Through the years, AACF has played a major role in challenging Arkansas's juvenile justice and child welfare systems to perform better. Today we are part of several coalitions working on long-range reforms in both systems. Improving Children's Health. We led the effort to create ARKids First, which provides children's health insurance to working families. Since 1997, the rate of uninsured children in Arkansas has fallen from 21 percent to 9 percent. Now we're driving the state to cross the finish line to covering all kids by enrolling all eligible children and extending more options to families who can't afford private insurance. Fighting for Early Education and Out-of-School Opportunities. We have been a leader in the fight to make quality preschool available to at-risk 3- and 4-year-olds in the state. Beginning in 2003, AACF and others convinced the legislature to expand annual funding for pre-k by $100 million. As a result, the state can serve every at-risk 3- and 4-year-old. Now we're working expanding pre-k to more low-income children and we're leading a coalition fighting for high-quality afterschool and summer programs for children of all ages throughout the state. Promoting Economic Security. AACF is a champion for the economic well-being of Arkansas families. We have led efforts to make our tax and budget system more balanced, including recent victories of exempting most low-income families from the state income tax and closing down predatory payday lenders. Now we're working on securing a state earned income tax credit to help balance our regressive tax system. AACF will continue being a voice for Arkansas kids when it comes to these issues and others. Only when improvements are made in these areas can Arkansas's children truly realize their full potential. And until that day arrives, AACF will continue fighting on their behalf.

June 19 is a day of profound historical importance. Juneteenth marks the moment in 1865 when the last enslaved Americans...
06/19/2026

June 19 is a day of profound historical importance. Juneteenth marks the moment in 1865 when the last enslaved Americans were finally told of their freedom — a moment that changed history. We commemorate this day with gratitude for those who fought for liberation, and with renewed commitment to the work of equity and inclusion that continues today. Happy Juneteenth!

Changes are coming in 2026 to ARHOME & SNAP. Some Medicaid recipients (19-64) may soon need to meet a 20hr/week work, sc...
06/18/2026

Changes are coming in 2026 to ARHOME & SNAP. Some Medicaid recipients (19-64) may soon need to meet a 20hr/week work, school, or volunteer requirement to keep benefits. Update your contact info and sign up for alerts. Stay informed!

Study finds wide disparities among states in how much of their own money they're willing to put into their childcare sys...
06/18/2026

Study finds wide disparities among states in how much of their own money they're willing to put into their childcare systems. Arkansas is 1 of only 7 states that puts in the bare minimum to get federal childcare funding. Other 43 states make modest to substantial state investments. https://bit.ly/4uDq59u

A recent report found wide disparities in state funding for childcare and preschool, raising concerns about access, affordability and quality.

Arkansas ranks near the bottom across the nation in child well-being. To see why this is happening visit https://bit.ly/...
06/17/2026

Arkansas ranks near the bottom across the nation in child well-being. To see why this is happening visit https://bit.ly/4xxMRCm

Arkansas ranks near the bottom nationally for child well-being, according to a new report that shows significant declines in education and health outcomes over

Arkansas ranks 33rd in economic well-being of children among the 50 states. While the number of children living in pover...
06/17/2026

Arkansas ranks 33rd in economic well-being of children among the 50 states. While the number of children living in poverty has decreased since just before the pandemic, we still have 176,000 Arkansas kids living in a high-cost burden household. While we should be proud of progress made in the economic well-being domain, there are still many Arkansas children living in poverty and too many families struggling to pay for everyday expenses. To learn more view https://bit.ly/4aLkoPx

06/17/2026

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See what Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families Policy Director Christin Harper has to say about why Arkansas has ...
06/17/2026

See what Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families Policy Director Christin Harper has to say about why Arkansas has ranked 43rd in the nation over four domains — economic well-being, education, health, and family and community factors. https://bit.ly/3S3gNWP

Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families policy director Christin...

Please share! Under a new SNAP nutrition waiver that goes into effect on July 1, certain products such as soda, candy, a...
06/17/2026

Please share! Under a new SNAP nutrition waiver that goes into effect on July 1, certain products such as soda, candy, and some other beverages can no longer be purchased in Arkansas with SNAP benefits. Learn more at ar.gov/SNAP

Despite broad opposition from advocates for students with disabilities, two of the U.S. Department of Education's main r...
06/16/2026

Despite broad opposition from advocates for students with disabilities, two of the U.S. Department of Education's main responsibilities are being moved to other agencies: safeguarding student civil rights to the Department of Justice and oversight of special education to the Department of Health and Human Services. https://bit.ly/4oxXsZX

Advocates for students with disabilities fear that moving special education out of the U.S. Department of Education will undermine support for vulnerable students.

So many ways to get The Mighty Peach, a special collaboration between The Mighty Rib and Loblolly Creamery, in support o...
06/16/2026

So many ways to get The Mighty Peach, a special collaboration between The Mighty Rib and Loblolly Creamery, in support of our mission!

🍑The Mighty Peach Update🍑

The ice cream is currently at these locations. If you’d like to sell at your business, please reach out to the Loblolly Creamery page. It will be available June-August and a portion of every sale goes to Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.

LOCATIONS:

✔️Black Angus (pints & 5-oz cups)
✔️share.the.love Kidsclub-Conway (scoops)
✔️Ferndale Market (pints)
✔️Bell Urban Farm-Conway (pints, scoop avail 6/22)
✔️Moo Scoops Co.-Conway (scoops)
✔️Wilder Flower Farm-Perryville (pints)
✔️Flyway Brewing-Argenta (5-oz cups)
✔️Sonny Williams' Steak Room (dessert)
✔️The Pizzeria (giant ice cream ball)
✔️Double B Ranch-Bigelow (pints)
✔️Kara's Packing Company-Lonsdale (pints)
✔️Little Rock Drug Emporium Vitamins Plus (pints)
✔️Pea Farm Bistro-Cabot (pints)
✔️Heber Health Haus-Heber Springs (pints)
✔️Acxiom Corporation (5-oz cups)
✔️Groovygreyhoundcc-W Memphis (scoops avail 6/17)
✔️Hwy 270 Grill-Poyen (scoops avail 6/19)
✔️All 3 Loblolly locations: SoMa, Hillcrest, Benton (scoops, pints, 5-oz cups, ice cream cakes, sundaes, and available to for catering/ordering in bulk on Loblolly website)

Address

1400 W Markham Street, Ste 306
Little Rock, AR
72201

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm

Telephone

+15013719678

Website

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