Resources
Resources
Demand that Our Nation’s Leaders ‘Commit to Kids’
Bruce Lesley | August 5, 2020 |
Our nation’s children deserve the very best we have to offer them. Their best interests should be at the forefront of every decision made by …
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) offers outreach materials to get kids enrolled
Carrie Fitzgerald | August 5, 2020 |
Never in the 23 years that the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has existed, have we faced a Back-to-School enrollment season like the one …
Covering All Kids
Bruce Lesley | May 13, 2020 |
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” — Nelson Mandela, May 8, 1995 …
Building a Better America and World for Our Children
Bruce Lesley | April 21, 2020 |
We are living in a life-changing moment where it is clear that the future will look quite different than we had imagined. We are …
COVID-19: How The Health of Children Is at Stake
Bruce Lesley | April 11, 2020 |
Children may not be dying in the same number as adults or senior citizens due to COVID-19, but their health is at risk and …
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 (Former Staff), 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 …
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 …
Children’s Budget 2019
| September 10, 2019 |
First Focus on Children is proud to introduce the 13th annual release of its signature Children’s Budget publication, a comprehensive analysis of how kids …
Poverty and Child Neglect: What we Know and What we Need to Do
Shadi Houshyar (Former Staff) | January 27, 2014 |
This is the 4th in a series of First Focus blog posts commemorating the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty and offering modern …
Child Poverty and Homelessness Affect Education
Kevin Lindsey (Former Staff) | September 24, 2014 |
The past two weeks have brought data releases with encouraging news regarding child poverty and bad news regarding child homelessness. Both data releases have …
Can you guess the average age of homelessness in the United States?
Madeline Daniels (Former Staff), First Focus Campaign for Children | July 27, 2015 |
The average age of a homeless person in the United States is just 11-years-old, according to Alex Rosen, Manager of the Chapman Partnership Homeless …
Children’s Budget 2015
First Focus | June 24, 2015 |
The federal government makes more than 200 distinct investments in children. These include traditional children’s initiatives like education and child abuse and neglect prevention. They …
Six reasons why children benefit from a minimum wage increase
Olivia Tompkins | July 20, 2016 |
Children, unable to care for themselves, rely on their parents to provide basic necessities and to invest in their future. It is evident that …
Key Facts about the CHIP Program
Lisa Shapiro | August 30, 2017 |
The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was enacted by a bipartisan group of lawmakers as part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L. …
Big Ideas – Pioneering Change: Innovative Ideas for Children and Families
First Focus | March 11, 2015 |
The latest in our Big Ideas series, Pioneering Change: Innovative Ideas for Children and Families offers 14 ideas from leading lawmakers, children’s advocates, and policy …
A Letter to Congress: Extend CHIP Now
| December 18, 2017 |
CHIP funding expired almost three months ago on September 30, 2017, and families across the country are receiving disenrollment notices. No family should feel …
A Look Back at the UK Child Poverty Target: Transferable Themes for the United States
Natalie Branosky | April 7, 2015 |
Released with the Centre for Economic & Social InclusionUS and authored by Natalie Branosky and Jane Mansour, this report is a 14-year retrospective on …
Why Medicaid Matters: Adopting a Child With Special Health Care Needs
Morna Murray (Former Staff) | April 25, 2018 |
In a continuing series on the personal impact that recent legislative and administrative proposals to restructure or severely reduce Medicaid health care will have …
Demand that Our Nation’s Leaders ‘Commit to Kids’
Bruce Lesley | August 5, 2020 |
Our nation’s children deserve the very best we have to offer them. Their best interests should be at the forefront of every decision made by …
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) offers outreach materials to get kids enrolled
Carrie Fitzgerald | August 5, 2020 |
Never in the 23 years that the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has existed, have we faced a Back-to-School enrollment season like the one …
Covering All Kids
Bruce Lesley | May 13, 2020 |
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” — Nelson Mandela, May 8, 1995 …
Building a Better America and World for Our Children
Bruce Lesley | April 21, 2020 |
We are living in a life-changing moment where it is clear that the future will look quite different than we had imagined. We are …
COVID-19: How The Health of Children Is at Stake
Bruce Lesley | April 11, 2020 |
Children may not be dying in the same number as adults or senior citizens due to COVID-19, but their health is at risk and …
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 (Former Staff), 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 …
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 …
Children’s Budget 2019
| September 10, 2019 |
First Focus on Children is proud to introduce the 13th annual release of its signature Children’s Budget publication, a comprehensive analysis of how kids …
Comment on the continuation of the Household Pulse Survey
Averi Pakulis, Cara Baldari, Christopher Towner, Olivia Gomez | July 31, 2020 |
First Focus on Children submitted the following comment to the Office of Management and Budget. Excerpt: The coronavirus pandemic has hit the United States …
We can’t experiment with the health of our children during COVID-19
Olivia Gomez | July 29, 2020 |
Like many people, I’ve been isolating at home with my family. The pandemic has impacted everyone, but it’s been especially difficult to see how …
Back to school, but not back to normal — what lawmakers must do
Conor Sasner | July 28, 2020 |
Every September, kids go back to school. This year, learning will happen in new and scarcely tested conditions. The coronavirus pandemic means that kids …
Statement: Administration’s Cruel Policies Endanger Immigrant Children
Michele Kayal | July 28, 2020 |
First Focus on Children condemns the Trump Administration’s decision to continue separating and imprisoning families in U.S. detention centers rather than releasing them to …
President Trump doesn’t think all kids count. We disagree (and so does the Constitution).
Cara Baldari | July 28, 2020 |
One of the key tenets of the work of First Focus on Children is that the well-being of every child matters. Thus, we were …
Cory Booker: “What we have been doing has not been enough.”
Brooke Gumataotao | July 28, 2020 |
To accompany the launch of our #Commit2Kids campaign, First Focus President Bruce Lesley sat down with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) to discuss how we …
Senator Cory Booker on why lawmakers should plan to commit to kids
| July 27, 2020 |
COVID-19 has revealed an ugly truth: the kids are not alright. Decades of chronic underfunding by lawmakers have made the pandemic and its economic …
Unfinished Business: the Civil Rights Act of 2020
Bruce Lesley | July 23, 2020 |
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to …
Demand that Our Nation’s Leaders ‘Commit to Kids’
Bruce Lesley | August 5, 2020 |
Our nation’s children deserve the very best we have to offer them. Their best interests should be at the forefront of every decision made by …
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) offers outreach materials to get kids enrolled
Carrie Fitzgerald | August 5, 2020 |
Never in the 23 years that the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has existed, have we faced a Back-to-School enrollment season like the one …
Covering All Kids
Bruce Lesley | May 13, 2020 |
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” — Nelson Mandela, May 8, 1995 …
Building a Better America and World for Our Children
Bruce Lesley | April 21, 2020 |
We are living in a life-changing moment where it is clear that the future will look quite different than we had imagined. We are …
COVID-19: How The Health of Children Is at Stake
Bruce Lesley | April 11, 2020 |
Children may not be dying in the same number as adults or senior citizens due to COVID-19, but their health is at risk and …
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 (Former Staff), 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 …
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 …
Children’s Budget 2019
| September 10, 2019 |
First Focus on Children is proud to introduce the 13th annual release of its signature Children’s Budget publication, a comprehensive analysis of how kids …
First Focus #ProtectChildren and #ProtectFamilies Resource Center
| October 30, 2018 |
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has a proposed rule in the Federal Register that drastically changes long-standing, bipartisan immigration policy determining eligibility for …
The President’s 2015 Budget
Jared Solomon (Former Staff) | March 19, 2014 |
This fact sheet analyzes how children fare in the discretionary portion of President Obama’s fiscal year 2015 budget, highlighting notable increases, cuts, and new …