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Steven Jessen-Howard

@sjessenhoward.bsky.social
85 followers 194 following 85 posts

Attorney, researcher & advocate for kids. stevenjh24 on Threads, sjessenhoward on X. Views my own.

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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
💯 Infant care is expensive to provide and most parents would prefer staying home with infants. We should expand paid family leave & caregiver stipend options alongside investment in licensed child care for the youngest children www.theatlantic.com/family/2026/...
theatlantic.com
The Biggest Obstacle to Universal Child Care: Babies
Infant care is incredibly expensive to provide. But one solution could reduce the burden on both states and parents.
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Sam @samd.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
I love Talarico and hope he wins. But he’s already raised $70M On the flipside, control of critical state legislatures will come down to seats where candidates raise 0.1% of that. I’ve researched the highest leverage swing district candidates you should donate to secure.actblue.com/donate/donat...
secure.actblue.com
Donate to the candidates on the front lines of the fight against MAGA gerrymandering
These are anti-MAGA state candidates in *extremely* close races
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Of course, I wouldn't expect all those details to be covered yet. Overall, I appreciate this ambitious vision & glad to see Dems embracing a more pluralistic approach that acknowledges & responds to parents having different child care preferences & needs
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
The choice component is crucial & I fully support it, but it further complicates building supply. Do parents have to choose by year, or can they change each month? If so, can licensed providers adapt to new enrollment & staffing needs that fast particularly with part-time option?
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
And, as has been much discussed about NM, it won't be easy to create a system that can reliably offer free licensed care to anyone who wants it. The steps the proposal outlines are the right ones, but that's a massive undertaking that will require a big workforce expansion & more
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
I think this is great as a north star vision for a Dem child care proposal. Some big implementation hurdles with cost being the most obvious. This would be much more expensive than previous proposals at a time where we're in a fiscal crunch & voters seem as anti-tax as ever
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Follows the model I've been advocating for- giving the many parents who prefer staying at home or child care arrangements other than a licensed center/home cash to make that possible while also ensuring child care is affordable (free in this case) & available to all who want that
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Great new child care proposal- would allow parents to choose between free child care, $1000/month, or a split with some of the payment & part-time care. Plus investments in the workforce & facilities & removing zoning & other barriers to building supply www.project2029foramerica.org/post/child-c...
project2029foramerica.org
Child Care Choice Guarantee
Every family should be able to choose the child care that’s right for them. When it comes to taking care of...
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Happy 250! 🎆 Sharing something I wrote back in February- Minnesota’s response to Operation Metro Surge demonstrated America at its best- everyday people supporting their neighbors through community support & civic action 🇺🇸 open.substack.com/pub/stevenje...
open.substack.com
Shoveling Ice
America should be exemplified more by the community support & civic participation of Minnesota's citizens than the federal crackdown they faced
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
More promising evidence from the Flint RX program! Giving cash to pregnant women & new parents led to fewer premature births & fewer babies being underweight or needing the NICU www.nytimes.com/2026/05/27/w...
nytimes.com
In Flint, Cash for Pregnant Women Leads to Better Outcomes for Babies
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Wolves playing incredible basketball rn
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James Martin, SJ @jamesmartinsj.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
I doubt that Pope Leo XIV will lose any sleep over this, before he begins his pilgrimage to Africa tomorrow. But the rest of us should. Because it is unhinged, uncharitable and unchristian. Is there no bottom to this moral squalor?
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Massively disappointing. Cuts to the PEF mean a combo of child care workers leaving the profession meaning fewer spots for kids, and programs passing costs to families who are already paying $25k+ for infant/toddler care in the district. Tell @mayorbowser.dc.gov & the Council to preserve it!
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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 08/04/2026
Senselessly slaughtering thousands of men, women, and children—while claiming the direct, personal approval of the Heavenly Father—is an unspeakable perversion of Conservatism and Christianity. Jesus Christ was not ambiguous about this. He actually addressed it explicitly and repeatedly.
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Zack Beauchamp @zackbeauchamp.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Genocidal language
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Rodger Sherman @rodger.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
it's everybody's favorite 2 hours of the sports year, when we all wonder why the NCAA men's basketball championship tips off at 9 p.m. Eastern on a Monday night
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
What a W for the Irish! Hannah Hidalgo is unbelievable. Crazy to knock off a 2-seed when we shot like 1-25 outside the paint 😅
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Tottenham currently doing a bit of performance art reminding us all that things can always get worse 🫠
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Good read from the Times on why child care is so expensive. The thing that makes it easier for me to stomach paying so much is knowing it's almost all going to my daughter's amazing teachers who deserve to make much more. We need more public investment! www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/u...
nytimes.com
Why Does Child Care Seem Less Affordable Than Ever?
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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 05/03/2026
We have spent as much as half of Head Start's total annual budget on this in less than a week. bsky.app/profile/leah...
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Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · 02/03/2026
$300 million mistake That's the same cost as 25,000 Head Start slots
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Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
You sound like an unhinged person if you in plain words describe what’s happening, but the Trump admin demanded Anthropic’s AI be able to kill things for it w/out human approval and also do mass surveillance. Anthropic said no, and now the admin is trying to destroy the company in retaliation.
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Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
if you believe in any form of free enterprise at all, the idea that the Pentagon can not only cut off your contract but designate you a supply chain risk and prevent other companies from buying from you just because you won't build killbots for the government should be terrifying
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Intergenerational programs are a cool way to promote child & elder care quality & supply- not sure they'll be a widespread solution to the challenges in those fields, but worth more experimentation & investment www.gu.org/resources/le...
gu.org
Leveraging Public Policy for Intergenerational Impact: A Snapshot of Federal, State, and Local Action - Generations United
Download the resource. Children and older adults thrive in intergenerational programs where they can learn from one another, build meaningful relationships, and contribute to shared community goals. I...
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
$15 donated- Capital Area Food Bank please. Thanks for doing this!
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
🇺🇸🦅🫡
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Russ The Tedious Ghost @russ41.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
You can help build billionaire-free local news. Repost this -> I give $1 Follow @51st.news -> I give $1 Follow me -> I give $1 Donate -> I match your gift Let's fight misinformation, help good journalists to make a decent living, and stick a big ol' finger in Jeff Bezos' eye.
51st.news
The 51st is expanding
D.C. needs more local journalists. You can help us hire them.
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Is Wildfire by John Mayer a ripoff of Bathtime by Raffi? 😂 #DadThoughts
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chloe gibbs @chloergibbs.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
🚨🚨 It's new research week for me on the socials! 🚨🚨 First up, just released today as an NBER working paper: "More Hours, More Work: Head Start Expansions Boost Maternal Employment" with fantastic coauthors Esra Kose and Maria Rosales-Rueda www.nber.org/papers/w34831
More Hours, More Work: Head Start Expansions Boost Maternal Employment

by Chloe Gibbs, Esra Kose, and Maria Rosales-Rueda

Abstract: Women’s employment remains highly sensitive to childcare constraints, making childcare availability a critical lever for supporting mothers’ labor force attachment. We study the effects of expanded full-day programming in Head Start, using the 2016 federal funding initiative that targeted grantees with low full-day enrollment. Linking administrative program data, geo-coded center locations, and household data on employment, we estimate a difference-in-differences design by comparing mothers of young children in treated and untreated areas. The policy increased full-day enrollment by 19 percent and raised single mothers’ employment (1.9%), hours (2.5%), and earnings (6.5%). Results show that extending program duration meaningfully improves maternal labor market outcomes.
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Leah Litman @leahlitman.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
This is all due to the incredible resistance of the people of Minnesota. Their resilience - and their determination - helped enforce the Constitution in a way that political elites in Congress and the courts did not or could not. I have never been prouder to be a Minnesotan.
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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
This episode has been a nightmare for my city and state, but I hope people realize it’s also a profound defeat and political catastrophe for Trump and DHS, who are slinking away having accomplished nothing. Minneapolis simply wouldn’t bend to them and they lost
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
We're so back!
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
The Premier League halftime show being sponsored by Advil has never felt more appropriate 🤦‍♂️ #COYS
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
"We are losing between a quarter and half of the child care workforce every single year, and almost all of them are fully exiting the profession!!" 😬😬😬 open.substack.com/pub/familyfr...
open.substack.com
If You Don't Have A Plan To Build the Child Care Workforce, You Don't Have A Child Care Plan
It's time to stop building a system on sand
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Love this article. So proud to be Minnesotan 💙
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
You love to see it
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Greg Olear @gregolear.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
One of the best things I’ve read in a while:
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Matt McDermott @mattmfm.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
ICE is now responsible for 66% of the homicides in Minneapolis this year.
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
A recently introduced bipartisan bill would start the CTC phase-in at the first dollar of income. While I'd prefer full refundability, this is the kind of achievable reform that would help plenty of families & makes sense to support with the current Congress www.hassan.senate.gov/news/press-r...
hassan.senate.gov
Senators Hassan & Young Introduce Bipartisan Bill ... | U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Todd Young (R-IN) introduced the bipartisan...
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
What a game and what a story. The Indiana turnaround is something that feels impossible to pull off even in NCAA dynasty mode
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
This AFCON final is insane 😳
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John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Woah. Argentina's 1990s preschool expansion program appears to have been a smashing success. The program increased high school completion by a whole 11.9 percentage points. The authors estimate that for every $1 spent, the preschool expansion generated about $11 in benefits.
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Good to see continued progress on this issue! www.hhs.gov/press-room/s...
hhs.gov
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
ND is right to feel outraged by being left out of the playoff, but this is so lame. The Pop-Tarts Bowl would've been a lot of fun & you miss out on practice time & game experience for younger guys to prepare for next season by doing this
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Rodger Sherman @rodger.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
I keep coming back to this: Notre Dame's two losses were by a combined four points. Their most recent loss was on September 14th. Alabama lost by 21 yesterday.
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
This sucks cuz ND had a real chance to win the national championship. Don't think you can say the same about Bama after last night. And idk why Miami jumps us when neither of us played
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
It's gotta be ND & Miami in and Bama out
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Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
The *only* part of MAHA that has any juice is the antivax stuff. The parts where less toxic chemicals get dumped into food, air, and water is inconvenient to donors Trump cares about. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
washingtonpost.com
EPA just approved new ‘forever chemical’ pesticides for use on food
Critics warn the EPA’s approvals of new PFAS pesticides could expose more Americans to “forever chemicals” through their food.
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
The admin's cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and education/youth-focused programs will likely mean more entries into care & less support for youth aging out imprintnews.org/top-stories/...
imprintnews.org
Trump Bill Cuts Taxes and Benefits Foster Youth Rely On | The Imprint
President Donald Trump held a ceremonial bill signing July 4 for his legislative package cutting taxes, and health care and nutrition benefits.
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Steven Jessen-Howard @sjessenhoward.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Credit where due- good to see White House focus on youth in foster care and some of this would be quite beneficial if implemented well. But like most EOs, it will have limited impact without new laws or funding, and... www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-st...
whitehouse.gov
First Lady Melania Trump Announces Executive Order on Fostering the Future, Opens New Opportunities for Public-Private Partnerships
First Lady Melania Trump successfully organized a new Executive Order entitled, “Fostering the Future for American Children and Families.” Under Mrs.
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