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
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The Biden Administration has withdrawn a Trump-era rule that would have forced 25,000 mixed-status immigrant families from their homes, including 55,000 children.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 …
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 …
An open letter to President Biden and Vice President Harris From America’s children
Bruce Lesley, Christine Cully | January 20, 2021 |
Dear President Biden and Vice President Harris: Congratulations on rising to our nation’s highest offices. We’ve been talking to America’s children about what the …
Report says more than 4,000 NY children lost a caregiver due to COVID-19
Averi Pakulis, Cara Baldari | December 11, 2020 |
Between March and July of this year, 4,200 children in New York State lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19. Four-thousand, two-hundred individual children. …
Key Stats on the Effect of COVID-19 on Kids
Aubrey Edwards-Luce, Averi Pakulis, Cara Baldari, Carrie Fitzgerald, Christopher Towner, Conor Sasner, Kathy Sacco, Michelle Dallafior, Miriam Abaya, Olivia Gomez | November 19, 2020 |
The COVID-19 pandemic is doing more than exposing the racial, ethnic, and economic disparities existing in our society; it is compounding them, and so …
Child poverty surpasses pre-pandemic levels, with 2.5 million more children in poverty since May 2020
Cara Baldari | October 16, 2020 |
Journalist Jason DeParle of the New York Times is one of the leading media voices covering child poverty in the United States, and in …
2020 Children’s Budget Summit: Lawmakers and educators discuss continued decline in children’s share of federal spending
Michele Kayal | September 30, 2020 |
This year has delivered an unprecedented public health emergency and an economic crisis that has disrupted every facet of the lives of children and …
Children’s Budget 2020
| September 29, 2020 |
About Children’s Budget 20202: First Focus on Children is proud to introduce the 14th annual release of its signature Children’s Budget publication. While the …
Congress Must Act Quickly to Pass Additional Relief for Struggling Children and Families
Aubrey Edwards-Luce, Averi Pakulis, Bruce Lesley, Cara Baldari, Carrie Fitzgerald, Christopher Towner, Claire Williams, Conor Sasner, Michelle Dallafior, Olivia Gomez, First Focus Campaign for Children | August 10, 2020 |
Given recent spikes in COVID-19 caseloads, an economic crisis that continues to deepen, and an upcoming school year faced with daunting challenges, it is …
Experts discuss ways to fight child poverty during virtual Children’s Week panel
Michele Kayal | June 19, 2020 |
Growing up in poverty has life-long consequences for a child’s physical and mental health and economic well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated conditions for …