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
Letter: Correct the Inequities in COVID-19 Response
Bruce Lesley | April 20, 2020 |
First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to Congressional leaders in both houses with a set of recommendations to address the needs …
Kids & COVID-19: Resource Hub
First Focus Campaign for Children | April 16, 2020 |
The impact on children from COVID-19 is immense. It is also variable and complicated. Every facet of the lives of children and families are …
Statement: Senate package good first step for kids but children need more robust measures
Michele Kayal | March 26, 2020 |
We commend Senate lawmakers’ unanimous passage of the $2 trillion coronavirus emergency bill, and even more, for using it to offer relief to America’s …
Letter: Prioritize the well-being of children as you respond to the Coronavirus outbreak.
Bruce Lesley | March 20, 2020 |
First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to Congressional leaders in both houses, urging them to prioritize the well-being of children in …
Statement: Congress’s coronavirus response is a good first step, but bigger, bolder measures are needed
Michele Kayal | March 18, 2020 |
We applaud Congress for passing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, providing families and children with increased food and nutrition assistance, supplemental state funding …
First Focus Campaign for Children identifies 120 lawmakers who prioritize children
Michele Kayal | March 12, 2020 |
In 2019, nearly one-in-six of our nation’s children lived in poverty. The number of kids without health insurance rose to more than 4 million, …
Letter: Children should not be treated as an afterthought — pass these bipartisan and common sense bills
Bruce Lesley | January 10, 2020 |
First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to all 100 U.S. Senators, urging them to consider legislation that would improve the lives …
New HUD Homeless Data Grossly Undercounts Children and Youth
Michele Kayal | January 8, 2020 |
Decline in rate misleading and Fast Facts about children, youth and homelessness Government data released yesterday grossly undercount homeless children, youth and families, and …
Letter: Our Support for the Housing for Homeless Students Act
| May 9, 2019 |
On March 13th, 2019, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Robert Portman (R-OH) and Angus King (I-ME) reintroduced the Housing for Homeless Students Act (S. 767). …
HUD Homeless Data Don’t Add Up: Children and Youth Pay the Price
Jonny Yao | December 17, 2018 |
Public Schools Report Highest Number of Homeless Students on Record, While HUD Claims Reduction in Family and Youth Homelessness Washington, DC – Data released today …