Housing & Homelessness
More than one million K-12 students in America are homeless today. Whether that means sleeping in a shelter or crashing on a family friend’s couch, homelessness has disastrous consequences for every aspect of a child’s life – health, nutrition, education. In fact, every time a child is forced to move, it has the same impact on educational progress as missing a month of school. But federal agencies don’t even have a uniform definition of “homeless” for children. First Focus advocates an honest assessment of the family homelessness problem in America and a renewed federal commitment to ensure that no American spends his or her childhood homeless.
Resources
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 …
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 …
Fact Sheet: LIFT the BAR Act
Aileen Wang, First Focus Campaign for Children, Madalyn News | September 8, 2021 |
Children of immigrants and immigrant children make up one-quarter of all U.S. kids and represent the fastest growing group of children in America. Despite …
Biden & Congress must support the nearly 4 million families with children facing housing instability
Cara Baldari, First Focus Campaign for Children, Micaela McConnell | July 22, 2021 |
Housing should be a fundamental right for all children and families in the United States — not a privilege. Yet, the economic and public …
Letter: The first — and next — 100 days
Bruce Lesley | May 4, 2021 |
First Focus on Children sent the following letter to President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris congratulating them on the achievements of their …
Fact Sheet: The REAL impact of COVID-19 on kids
| April 22, 2021 |
Way back at the beginning of this pandemic, a narrative took hold that kids are not affected. Now, more than a year in, it …
Statement: Rule change gives 55,000 children a lifeline
Michele Kayal | April 9, 2021 |
The Biden Administration has withdrawn a Trump-era rule that would have forced 25,000 mixed-status immigrant families from their homes, including 55,000 children. Bruce Lesley, president …
Fact Sheet: Kids and the American Rescue Plan
| March 30, 2021 |
The American Rescue Plan marks the biggest policy gain for children in the United States in decades. The comprehensive COVID-19 relief package passed by …
More than ever, we need Champions for Children — these are policymakers meeting the moment
Bruce Lesley, First Focus Campaign for Children | February 4, 2021 |
Our nation’s children face multiple challenges to their well-being stemming from years of a declining share of federal investments in their future, the COVID-19 …