First Focus

Resources by First Focus


Evaluating 2019 Census Child Poverty Data in the Wake of COVID-19

| September 24, 2020 |

On September 15th and 17th, 2020 the U.S. Census Bureau released national and state-level poverty estimates from 2019. However, these estimates did not adequately


Maternal and Infant Mortality: What Does the Data Tell Us and What Can We Do?

| November 18, 2019 |

The United States has some of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the developed world and they continue to rise. African-American women


Fact Sheet: The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018

| March 30, 2018 |

On March 23rd, 2018, President Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, an omnibus spending bill that funds the government for


Fact Sheet: Impact of the President’s 2019 Budget Proposal on Child Nutrition Assistance

| February 20, 2018 |

The President’s Fiscal Year 2019 (FY 19) budget includes several harmful proposals that would drastically cut and restructure domestic food assistance programs that serve


Fact Sheet: Impact of the President’s FY 2019 Budget Request on Children’s Health

| February 16, 2018 |

Earlier this week President Trump released his 2019 budget proposal to Congress. His FY 2019 budget request totals $4.4 trillion for the next fiscal


Fact Sheet: Impact of the President’s 2019 Budget on Children

| February 15, 2018 |

President Trump’s $4.4 trillion budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 seeks massive cuts to critical programs that help children and families. It takes


Fact Sheet: What Is the “CHIP Cliff” and How Can Congress Fix It?

| January 29, 2018 |

On January 22, 2018, Congress included a six-year extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as part of a continuing resolution (CR) to


Work Requirements for Medicaid: Yet Another Threat to Children and Families

| January 11, 2018 |

Washington, D.C. – First Focus responded to today’s letter issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to State Medicaid Directors, allowing


Children’s Budget 2017

| November 17, 2017 |

Children are receiving less than 8 percent of the federal budget—and this share fell 5.5 percent between 2014 and 2017, according to Children’s Budget 2017,


Children’s Budget 2016

| July 7, 2016 |

Federal spending dedicated to children represents just 7.83 percent of the federal budget in fiscal year 2016 and total spending on children’s programs has