Letters and Correspondence

On April 20, 2017, the First Focus Campaign for Children sent a letter to U.S. Representative Jared Huffman thanking him for his support of the National Adoption and Foster Care Home Study Act.This Act creates national home study standards and a database for prospective foster and adoptive families.Read the letter here.

On April 20, 2017, the First Focus Campaign for Children submitted a letter to U.S. Senator Roy Blunt thanking him for his support of The Timely Mental Health Act.This Act requires mental health screenings for foster youth within 30 days of entering care, a critical event for children who are statistically more likely to experience traumatic events than their peers who are not in foster care.Early identification and intervention will ensure better outcomes for these youth and their families.Read the letter here.

On March 28, 2017, First Focus Campaign for Children sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives thanking Representative Keith Ellison on his support for the Equal Opportunity  for Residential Representation Act of 2017 (H.R. 1146).Each year millions of families in the U.S. are evicted from their homes and families with children are more likely to be evicted than tenants without children. Children who experience eviction often fact high rates of mobility and unstableliving environments that result in negative consequences for their education, physical...

In early March, Assembly Bill 1520, the Lifting Children and Families out of Poverty Act of 2017, was introduced by Assemblywoman Autumn R. Burke (D-Marina Del Ray).  This legislation would commit the California State Legislature to cut California’s child poverty rate in half within 20 years as well as providing a comprehensive framework of research-backed solutions to reach this target. California has the highest rate of child poverty in the country when taking into account cost of living expenses. Child poverty targets have proven successful...

On March 27, the First Focus Campaign for Children submitted a letter of support to US Representative Joaquin Casto for his leadership in introducing the Pre-K Parity Act (H.R. 1013).The Pre-K Teacher Parity Act would expand the Educator Expense Deduction to allow early childhood instructors to deduct up to $250 for teaching expenses. This additional resource would be beneficial for both the teachers and the students of early childhood programs.By recognizing Head Start and Pre-Kindergarten teachers with their K-12 colleagues, the Pre-K Teacher Parity Act would acknowledge the value of early educators for our nation’s children.Read the letter...

On March 22, the First Focus Campaign for Children submitted a letter to Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and Senator Patty Murray to thank them for introducing the Healthy Families Act (H.R. 1516 / S. 636).The Healthy Families Act would allow workers in businesses with 15 or more employees to earn paid sick days. In addition, it provides workers with the option to use paid leave for a variety of child health-related reasons.This bill would make significant strides for America's working families.Read the letter

On March 21, 2017, First Focus Campaign for Children sent a letter to Congress to provide comments on the American Health Care Act.The Campaign for Children strongly opposes the legislation, and urges a "do no harm" approach to the health coverage of children.The letter details concerns about this legislation's imposition of the Medicaid per-capita caps upon the states and the block grant option.Read the letter here.

On February 22, First Focus Campaign for Children and the National Diaper Bank Network submitted a letter to U.S. Representative Keith Ellison and U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro for their support of the Hygiene Assistance Act of 2017.Nearly half of infants and toddlers in the U.S. are living in low-income families. This means that over 5 million young children are living in families that have a hard time covering the cost of their family’s basic needs, including diapers for their young children. The Hygiene Assistance for Families of Infants and Toddlers Act of 2017 (H.R. 1143)...

First Focus Campaign for Children President Bruce Lesley sent a letter to Representative Rosa DeLauro and Kirsten Gillibrand thanking them for reintroducing the Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act of 2017.The FAMILY Act would make workers in all companies, regardless of size, eligible for up to 12 weeks of partial income for family and medical leave, including pregnancy, childbirth recovery, serious health condition of a child, parent, spouse or domestic partner, birth or adoption of a child and/or military caregiving and leave. Workers could earn 66 percent of their monthly wages,...

In a letter sent to Congress this week, more than 240 organizations expressed their support to ensure that youth who age out of foster care can keep Medicaid coverage until they turn 26, in parity with their peers who can stay on their parent’s health insurance until the age of 26.Over 20,000 youth age out of care each year with very few supports or financial assistance. In addition, former foster youth represent some of the most vulnerable youth with high incidence rates of homelessness, incarceration, and chronic and mental health conditions.

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