Resources

Resources
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 …
Joint Letter: End the misuse of Title 42
| April 12, 2021 |
First Focus on Children, along with more than 30 other organizations sent the following letter to President Biden urging the Administration to end the …
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 …
Biden Administration to send much-needed Disaster Response Team to Central America
Kathy Sacco, Miriam Abaya | April 8, 2021 |
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced that it will activate a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to respond to the urgent humanitarian needs …
Recommendations for Prioritizing Children in Opioid Settlement Funding
Famiies USA, First Focus on Children | March 26, 2021 |
Last year, First Focus on Children and Families USA invited child advocacy, welfare, and health experts to determine how to prioritize addiction prevention, bolster …
Ending criminalization in schools
Conor Sasner, 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 …
Cutting Child Poverty in Half Is Historic
Bruce Lesley, First Focus Campaign for Children | March 16, 2021 |
Children in the wealthiest nation in the world should not be living in poverty. And yet, 1 in 6 children in the United States …
The American Rescue plan puts us on a pathway to end child poverty within a generation if…
Bruce Lesley, First Focus Campaign for Children | March 11, 2021 |
Moments ago, President Biden signed legislation that will do more to improve the lives of children than any other law in nearly 25 years. …
Statement: SCOTUS dismisses public charge case
Michele Kayal | March 9, 2021 |
In response to a Biden Administration request, the U.S. Supreme Court today dismissed an upcoming case challenging the Trump Administration’s “public charge” rule, which …
Congress is Taking Action to Ensure We Cut Child Poverty in Half
Olivia Gomez, First Focus Campaign for Children | March 3, 2021 |
House and Senate Democrats are poised to re-introduce the Child Poverty Reduction Act tomorrow. Led by Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) and Sen. Bob Casey …
Letter: In Support of Xavier Becerra for HHS Secretary
First Focus Campaign for Children | February 19, 2021 |
First Focus on Children sent the following letter to the Chairpersons and Ranking Members of the Senate Finance Committee and Health, Education, Labor, and …
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 …