Emily Yaw

Emily Yaw earned a bachelor's degree from Bethel College in 2009. Her career experience includes working as an accountant.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a foster parent of 6 years, an accountant, and just a regular person. I am pretty heavily involved in my church, and studying to become a social worker. As a foster parent, I have seen the brokenness of the system, and how this hurts our children. I decided to run for office, even though I have never had any interest in politics, because things have to change. I want a government that works FOR the people, and that can't be bought. If we aren't doing what's best for every citizen, we are failing. We can do so much better!

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Our children have to be our priority. That means putting a child's safety, over the rights of the parent. That means actually funding our schools to give each child their best chance. That means subsidizing childcare so that it is actually affordable. That means mental health in schools, to help with behavioral issues so kids don't fall behind...Affordability. This starts with raising the minimum wage from $7.25/hr, which hasn't been increased in 17 years in spite of all of the inflation and tariffs. This also means building apartments that everyone can afford, rather than focusing on upscale apartments to attract a wealthier community.The federal goverment keeps cutting funding to the states, so we have to figure out how to do more with less, not put the burden on our citizens. This means getting smarter about what works versus what we wish would work. Outlawing homelessness doesn't work when they don't have anyplace to go. Putting people in jail for drug offences or non-violent crimes (like stealing food, not paying child support, etc.) just costs Indiana citizens money to pay for them in jail. Insurance companies making profits while people can't afford healthcare, is so much worse than having state-wide healthcare where everyone has healthcare. Let's get back to making our money work smarter, so we can all win

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Too many children are dying in Indiana because they are either left with parents who are neglecting/abusing them or they are returned to parents who aren't safe. The safety of the child should ALWAYS outweigh the rights of the parents. Kids are in the system too long (it was almost 5 YEARS before I was able to adopt my kids from foster care). For parents that just need help, we need to provide that, rather than judging. And for parents that aren't willing to make the changes needed to keep their children safe, we need to make decisions based on their actions now, rather than how they MIGHT change in the future years.