Juvenile Justice
Involvement with the criminal justice system puts youth’s futures at risk, with adverse impacts on young people’s mental and physical well-being, education, and employment opportunities. Federal government can help young people before and after their first brush with the law to avoid deepening involvement with the justice system. First Focus advocates for investments in meeting the health, education, employment opportunity, and other needs essential to turning young people’s lives around.
Resources
Joint Letter: Protect children in mixed-status families from being separated from their parents
| July 31, 2023 |
First Focus on Children sent the following letter to attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas — co-signed by the …
Watch: Pandemic opportunities — and missteps — in child welfare and youth justice
| March 31, 2022 |
The COVID-19 pandemic offered golden opportunities — and inflicted new missteps — on the country’s child welfare and youth justice systems, experts and advocates …
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 …
National Town Hall with New Children’s Bureau Associate Commissioner
| April 15, 2021 |
Join us and our friends at Think of Us for a virtual National Town Hall for Older Foster Youth on April 15, 2021. In …
Ending criminalization in schools
Conor Sasner (Former Staff), First Focus Campaign for Children | March 19, 2021 |
Schools should represent the idyllic sandbox of a hopeful future. Then, they are society’s incubators where young people together begin to envision a shared …
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 …
Key Stats on the Effect of COVID-19 on Kids
Aubrey Edwards-Luce, Averi Pakulis, Cara Baldari, Carrie Fitzgerald (Former Staff), Christopher Towner (Former Staff), Conor Sasner (Former Staff), Kathy Sacco, Michelle Dallafior, Miriam Abaya (Former Staff), Olivia Gomez (Former Staff) | 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 …
2020 State Ratings Report on Human Rights Protections for Children in the U.S. Justice System
Aubrey Edwards-Luce, First Focus Campaign for Children | November 5, 2020 |
The advocacy organization Human Rights for Kids released its 2020 National State Ratings Report this week. The first-of-its-kind report evaluates how all 50 states …
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 …