Letters and Correspondence

First Focus Campaign for Children sent letters to every member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, asking that federal nutrition legislation scheduled for consideration by the committee today maintain the nation’s investment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps). This is the letter sent to Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).

A coalition of 83 national and state children's advocates sent a letter on April 16 to staff and lawmakers in the U.S. Senate urging support of The Children's Budget Act (S. 1396).

This letter to Congressional leaders urges lawmakers to oppose S. 2221. This bill would prevent the implementation of critical updates to labor laws for children who work in agriculture proposed by the Secretary of Labor.

The U.S. Treasury Department has drafted a rule providing guidance on making determinations on whether an offer of employer coverage is deemed affordable for an employee. According to the proposed rule, the test to determine whether an employer-sponsored health plan is affordable for an entire family is based on the costs of coverage for the individual employee only. It does not take into account what coverage for the family costs. This is particularly problematic given that employee-only insurance premiums average about $5,400 per year, while annual employee-and-family premiums are nearly...

Updated! This letter, signed by over 30 organizations, urges Members of Congress to protect the Child Tax Credit in the face of a House-passed proposal that would deny working parents who file and pay income taxes using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) the ability to claim the credit.

Did you know that most of the antibiotics administered in the United States aren't used to cure disease, or even used on people? It's true -- 80% of antibiotics are used to accelerate the growth of chickens, pigs, and other animals raised for food.This overuse accelerates the development of resistant bacteria -- "superbugs" that defy medical treatment and put human lives at risk. Children are particularly vulnerable to antibiotic-resistant infections because they are at a greater risk of severe complications, are less able to fight infection naturally, and because fewer antibiotics...

The definition of "homeless" used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development denies more than 700,000 homeless children the help they need. The Homeless Children and Youth Act (H.R. 32), sponsored by Illinois Congresswoman Judy Biggert, would fix that problem and improve government's response to the growing problem of child homelessness.

First Focus Campaign for Children submitted this statement for the record regarding the December 1, 2011 United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services and International Security hearing entitled "The Financial and Societal Costs of Medicating America’s Foster Children."

First Focus Campaign for Children recently joined the Homeless Advocates Group, a coalition of organizations focused on improving affordable housing and aiding the homeless. We partnered with these organizations to sign on to a letter urging the Super Committee not to cut programs to low-income households.Specifically, we urged the Committee members not to approve any cuts to Medicaid, affordable housing programs, as well as any cuts to funding streams targeted to aid the homeless. In addition, we advocated that Committee members should not agree to any deficit reduction plan that does...

This letter, signed by over 40 organizations, urges Members of Congress to support the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, legislation introduced by Senator Durbin (D-IL) and Represetative Berman (D-CA-28).