Cara Baldari Vice President, Family Economics, Housing and Homelessness
Cara Baldari is the Vice President of Family Economics, Housing, and Homelessness at First Focus on Children. She has been with First Focus since 2011 and in this role, she leads the U.S. Child Poverty Action Group, of which First Focus is a founding member.
In 2016 she helped to secure federal appropriations funding for a landmark consensus study from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty, released in February 2019.
Through her work, she advocates for a cross-sector set of investments to end child poverty and homelessness, including cash assistance, income supports, homeless assistance, and more.
Cara received a Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband and daughter.
U.S. Child Poverty in 2021
Cara Baldari | September 21, 2022 |
On September 13, 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that the United States saw the lowest child poverty rate on record, with 5.2% of …
It’s way too early to declare victory over child poverty
Cara Baldari, Michele Kayal | September 20, 2022 |
Child poverty in this country last year dropped to the lowest rate ever recorded and, according to new research, has declined by nearly 60% …
The Family Security Act 2.0 Creates Winners and Losers
Cara Baldari, Michelle Dallafior, Campaign for Children | July 8, 2022 |
Our children are facing some of the most challenging times seen in our nation’s history. America’s historically high rate of child poverty and significant …
Watch: Child poverty experts outline successful strategies
Cara Baldari, First Focus Campaign for Children | April 12, 2022 |
Earlier today, the U.S. Child Poverty Action Group, GRACE & End Child Poverty California campaign, and the First Focus Campaign for Children hosted a …
Watch: A Conversation on Child & Youth Homelessness
Cara Baldari | March 24, 2022 |
Child and youth homelessness has been on the rise even before the pandemic. Pre-COVID, an estimated 1-in-41 school-age children were homeless, while young children — those under …
One year ago, we proved that we know how to end child poverty — we can’t stop now.
Aubrey Edwards-Luce, Cara Baldari, Michelle Dallafior | March 24, 2022 |
2021 was a landmark year for reducing child poverty in the United States. One-year improvements to the Child Tax Credit (CTC) included in the …
What’s at stake for kids if Congress doesn’t pass Build Back Better
Aubrey Edwards-Luce, Averi Pakulis, Cara Baldari, Carrie Fitzgerald, Conor Sasner, Elaine Dalpiaz, Haley Winter, Kathy Sacco, Michelle Dallafior, Miriam Abaya, Olivia Gomez, First Focus Campaign for Children | December 22, 2021 |
As negotiations have stalled and the fate of the Build Back Better Act hangs in the balance, children stand to lose access to monthly …
What Congress can do about hunger & homelessness this holiday season
Cara Baldari, Olivia Gomez, First Focus Campaign for Children | November 22, 2021 |
Heading into Thanksgiving, the negative economic reverberations of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be strongest for families with children who were already struggling to …
Build Back Better package is part of a larger fight to end child poverty in America
Cara Baldari, First Focus Campaign for Children | October 26, 2021 |
For the first time in generations, we are on the precipice of making serious and long-term progress to reduce our stubbornly high rate of …
Letter: Inform states of the vacatur of the 2019 Public Charge Final Rule
Cara Baldari, Miriam Abaya | September 30, 2021 |
On September 30th, First Focus on Children sent a letter to Secretary Fudge asking the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to …