Advocacy organizations call for policies on child poverty, homelessness, and other issues

WASHINGTON, October 30, 2020 — More than 50 advocacy organizations have joined First Focus on Children in demanding that sitting and aspiring lawmakers offer specific policies that support and advance the well-being of our country’s 74 million children.

As part of First Focus on Children’s #Commit2Kids campaign, organizations including Save the Children Action Network, ZERO TO THREE, the National WIC Association, the National Diaper Bank Network, and dozens of others have added their names to an open letter urging candidates and elected officials to produce policies that address child poverty, homelessness, health care, nutrition, immigration, and other issues.

Our organizations believe that budgets and policies reflect priorities. We demand both for addressing: 

  1. Child Poverty: The U.S. has the research and resources to reduce child poverty, yet in 2018, 11.9 million children were living in poverty. 
  2. Housing: Every child deserves a safe place to live. Public schools identified more than 1.5 million children experiencing homelessness in 2017-18, a 10 percent increase from the previous year.
  3. Early Childhood Care and Education: Our leaders must have a plan to ensure that all families have access to high-quality, affordable childcare, and high-quality education.
  4. Health Care:  An estimated half-million children could lose health coverage during this pandemic.
  5. Nutrition: School closures, and the subsequent loss of school-provided meals, have highlighted unprecedented rates of food insecurity for children.
  6. Child Welfare: Children are at an increased risk of maltreatment as families face economic, health, parental, and employment-related stressors during the pandemic. 
  7. Immigration:  Our leaders must have a plan to enact and uphold a “best interest of the child” standard for all immigration decisions.
  8. Budget: Out of every $100 the federal government spends in FY2020, only $7.48 goes to children.
  9. Representation in government: Many countries have successfully established a Children’s Commissioner, an independent office that holds the government accountable to protecting and investing in children.

Find a full list of signatories and comprehensive discussion of these demands at this link. Learn more about First Focus on Children’s #Commit2Kids campaign here.