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
Fact Sheet: Aid to Children and Families in the HEROES Act (H.R. 6800)
Aubrey Edwards-Luce, Averi Pakulis, Bruce Lesley, Cara Baldari, Carrie Fitzgerald, Christopher Towner, Drew Aherne, Michelle Dallafior | May 22, 2020 |
As part of ongoing efforts to address the COVID-19 outbreak and resulting economic crisis, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Health and Economic …
The COVID-19 Crisis Is Catastrophic for Children Too
Bruce Lesley | April 4, 2020 |
This is likely a once-in-a-generation disaster, and it will affect every domain of human life. It will be traumatic. And trauma always falls hardest …
Fact Sheet: Aid to Children During Coronavirus Outbreak
Averi Pakulis, Bruce Lesley, Cara Baldari, Carrie Fitzgerald, Drew Aherne, Michelle Dallafior | April 2, 2020 |
As the spread of the coronavirus has grown, the vulnerabilities within our system have become clear. Children and families living in poverty already lack …
Make Sure Every Child Is Counted Today
Cara Baldari | April 1, 2020 |
On April 1, tell people to count all children at their address who have no permanent residence. As the spread of the Coronavirus has …
Coronavirus confirms why we need a national commitment to address child poverty and homelessness in the United States
Cara Baldari, Michelle Dallafior | March 13, 2020 |
There is real momentum towards addressing the high rate of child poverty in the United States and the Coronavirus outbreak has only served to …
Fact Sheet: Impact of the President’s 2021 Budget on Housing
Cara Baldari | March 2, 2020 |
On February 10th, President Trump presented his budget request for fiscal year 2021 (FY21) to Congress, outlining his spending priorities for the coming year. …
What does the President’s budget say about how we value children?
Tim Smith | February 11, 2020 |
Yesterday, President Trump released a $4.8 trillion budget proposal that would impose massive cuts to critical programs that children and families rely on every …
Statement: First Focus on Children’s Response to President Trump’s FY 2021 Budget
Michele Kayal | February 10, 2020 |
The proposed budget released today by President Trump takes direct aim at the health and well-being of America’s children. According to the FY 2021 …
Fact Sheet: The Public Charge Rule Harms Children (Updated)
Cara Baldari, Carrie Fitzgerald, Jonny Yao (Former Staff), Kristen Torres (Former Staff), Rachel Merker (Former Staff) | February 6, 2020 |
The strength of our country’s economic future is dependent on the wellbeing of our children, who make up our future workforce and tax base. …
Oversight Committee holds two days of hearings on four threats to America’s children
Michele Kayal, Tim Smith | February 5, 2020 |
On February 5 and 6, 2020, the Committee on Oversight and Reform conducted an in-depth, two-day series of hearings held by four of its …