families

“Minnesota can help lessen the costs of family formation by nurturing the employment skills of young men and women without saddling them with the mountains of debt that create further roadblocks to family formation.”

“Economic relief in the form of direct cash support to families, such as a refundable child tax credit, not only helps sustain families but does so in a manner consistent with the Church’s teaching on subsidiarity.”

“Parents want their children to be ‘good people,’ which is inclusive of many elements of a Catholic worldview, but what parents seem to struggle doing is sharing a conviction about the importance of practicing the (Catholic) faith and speaking to a personal relationship with God,” said Susan M. Timoney, associate professor of practice, pastoral studies area, and associate dean for undergraduate studies at The Catholic University of America’s School of Theology and Religious Studies.

“It turns out, ordinary conversations matter more than anything else.”

One of the Families First Projects’ foundational goals is to create an appropriate “policy ecosystem” that supports the creation of stable families and helps them flourish by making it easier to get married, stay married, have kids, raise kids in economically stable environments, and care for extended family.

“The first week of the session has been filled with opportunities for all people of goodwill to together enact policies that promote a consistent ethic of life and put families first.”

With the start of the 2023 Minnesota legislative session Jan. 3, the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the official public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Minnesota, is putting families at the top of its advocacy strategy for the year.

The program exists in all 50 states and serves about 300,000 children a year.