Letters and Correspondence

The First Focus Campaign for Children sent a letter to the Chairperson and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2017.

On September 12, 2017 the U.S. Child Poverty Coalition, of which the First Focus Campaign for Children is a member, submitted a letter to Congress highlighting new child poverty data from the U.S. Census Bureau.The data found that 8.2% of children are living in extreme poverty – that's more than 6 million children. While some of the rates have declined since the prior year, CPAG highlights the need for critical programs that will continue to lift children and families out of poverty.Read the letter.

On September 6, 2017, First Focus Campaign for Children submitted the following letter to Senators Richard Durbin and Lindsey Graham, thanking them for the reintroduction of The DREAM Act of 2017 (S.1615). This bill would protect the nearly 800,000 undocumented children and adults who were brought to the United States through no fault of their own.On September 5, 2017, the Trump Administration formally rescinded the DACA program. Congress must act to protect DACA recipients.Read the letter.

On June 21, the First Focus Campaign for Children–along with several other organizations–submitted this letter to Senators Susan Collins and Heidi Heitkamp, and Representatives Lou Barletta and Mark DeSaulnier for their leadership in introducing the School Food Modernization Act.The legislation provides needed assistance to schools through loan guarantees for kitchen infrastructure and equipment upgrades, authorizes grants for small but critical equipment purchases, and supports innovative training opportunities to strengthen the school food service workforce.This bill is critical to help schools provide healthy food choices for all children.Read the...

On June 19, the First Focus Campaign for Children submitted a letter of support to the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Brady, and Ranking Member Neal for their leadership in sponsoring five important child welfare bills (H.R. 2866, H.R. 2742, H.R. 2857, H.R. 2834, H.R. 2847):Modernizing the Interstate Placement of Children in Foster Care Act (H.R. 2742) provides funding for states ($5 million) in the development and implementation of the National Electronic Interstate Compact Enterprise (NEICE). NEICE is a web-based electronic case-processing system that supports the administration of the Interstate Compact on...

On June 19th, the First Focus Campaign for Children submitted a letter to Reps. Danny Davis, James, Langevin, Gwen Moore and Bobby Rush, for their support on the Foster and Homeless Youth Food Security Act of 2017 (HR 2236).The bill will allow for specific exemptions explicitly for foster and homeless youth who are enrolled at least half-time in an institution of higher education. It will exempt them from the work requirement and other eligibility criteria as long as they are pursuing their education. This bill will ensure that foster youth won’t have...

The First Focus Campaign for Children sent a letter of support today to the lead Congressional sponsors of the Raise the Wage Act (S.1242 / H.R.15).This bill would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2024, helping millions of working parents and their children.Read the letter

Click here to read the letterThe First Focus Campaign for Children sent a letter to Rep. Danny Davis (IL-7) in support of his introduction of the Foster Youth Driving Act (HR 2512).This legislation provides prospective foster parents with training to help prepare a young person to drive.It also provides funds to assist with such things as vehicle insurance costs, driver’s education classes, testing fees, and costs related to obtaining a license.Reducing these barriers will increase the sense of normalcy for foster youth and empower them to seek opportunities of higher education and gainful employment.

On May 15, 2017, First Focus Campaign for Children sent a letter to the lead Congressional sponsors of S. 1064/H.R. 2401, the Anti-Lunch Shaming Act of 2017.This legislation would ban schools from stigmatizing children whose parents cannot afford to pay for their school lunches and require schools to direct communications about unpaid school lunch bills to the parent, rather than penalizing the child.Read the letter.

On May 11, 2017, the Children's Budget Coalition submitted a letter to Congress (House / Senate) urging policymakers to consider the needs of America's youngest citizens when writing the 2018 budget.More than 55 organizations signed on to the letter, which asks Congress to consider four top priorities:1. Reversing the divestment trends in children’s programs;2. Lifting the budget caps for non-defense discretionary spending set forth in the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA; P.L. 112-25);3. Maintaining parity between non-defense and defense discretionary spending; and4. Increasing 302b allocations in...