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COVID-19 pushing poverty numbers higherToday’s reintroduction of the Child Poverty Reduction Act of 2020 has come just in time. The Child Poverty Reduction Act of 2020 (S. 4115/H.R. 7419), put forward by Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), commits to cutting child poverty in half in 10 years, just as the pandemic pushes child poverty toward record levels. The legislation also creates national, evidence-based benchmarks and monitoring to hold lawmakers accountable. The U.S. Child Poverty Action Group, led by First Focus Campaign for Children, and a dozen of its members applaud the bill’s introduction. “Child poverty is the shame of...

 First Focus Campaign for Children is pleased that The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act (H.R. 1425), unveiled today by chairs of the House health committees, makes a special effort to specifically address the health care needs of children. “Children too often are an afterthought in our policy and budget decisions,” said Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus Campaign for Children. “It is encouraging to see such particular attention paid to their needs in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act.” The package, put forward by Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Ways and Means Chairman Richard E. Neal...

In response to introduction of the Child Care Is Essential Act in the House and the Senate, Bruce Lesley, President of First Focus Campaign for Children, made the following statement: “We are gratified that Reps. DeLauro and Scott and Sen. Murray are pushing to devote $50 billion to the survival of child care providers and hope the bill succeeds in both houses. America cannot return to work until we secure safe, happy, and healthy care for our children. Child care is vital U.S. infrastructure, as crucial to our economy as transportation or electricity.”First Focus Campaign for Children joined 44 other advocates...

Important strides, but key issues overlooked The $3 trillion Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, unveiled this week by the House of Representatives, makes important strides in protecting American children, but leaves key issues unaddressed. “We’re gratified that this bill values children, giving them the same stimulus payments as adults, and that it includes provisions to expand both the Child Tax Credit and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit to help struggling families,” said Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus Campaign for Children. “But the bill disappoints in other critical areas. It does not provide nearly...

As the economic toll of COVID-19 robs American families of their jobs and the health insurance that comes with them, lawmakers must act decisively to protect children’s coverage. We strongly support the bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program Pandemic Enhancement and Relief (CHIPPER) Act, which will suspend the scheduled drop in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) E-FMAP of 11.5 percentage points in the coming fiscal year. With more than 6 million children projected to lose their health insurance, now is not the time to cut federal support for states providing coverage by billions of dollars. “Congress missed the opportunity to...

Advocate Demands Congress Protect KidsCOVID-19 may not be killing children in the same numbers as adults, but the virus that has locked down the world is having a grave and long-lasting impact on children. “People have been saying, ‘Oh, coronavirus doesn’t affect kids — the kids are alright,” First Focus Campaign for Children President Bruce Lesley recently told The New York Times. “They’re so not. They’re at greater risk of sexual assault, suicide, substance abuse, hunger — every aspect of children’s lives is being impacted.” Lesley and his policy team at First Focus Campaign for Children today called on...

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 struggling families and children. While some of the deal’s elements will meet the most urgent needs of our nation’s children, Congress must quickly enact even more robust measures.The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (H.R.748) sets aside more than $9 billion in food assistance to keep children and families from going hungry. The bill also funds education assistance for kids out of school; community health centers, where 30% of the patients are children; the...

We applaud Congress for passing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, providing families and children with increased food and nutrition assistance, supplemental state funding for Medicaid, and paid sick days and leave for some workers. The bill, passed today by the Senate, was a good first step, but bigger, bolder measures are needed to aid the nation’s families.The financial instability experienced by children living in poverty already deprives them of regular, nutritious meals; stable housing; health care and other resources required for their healthy development. While the public health crisis has taken a toll on the entire country, it has...

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, reversing two decades of progress. More than 12 million children stared down hunger each day. And the federal government worked to deprive millions more of food, housing, and other life-sustaining assistance. First Focus Campaign for Children today released its 2019 Legislative Scorecard, which identifies 120 members of Congress who had the courage to buck this trend and put children first. These Champions and Defenders of children introduced bills to safeguard children’s programs, supported beneficial measures...

A bipartisan team of lawmakers have introduced a bill to make the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) permanent, a move overwhelmingly supported by pediatricians, advocates, parents, and the American public.The Comprehensive Access to Robust Insurance Now Guaranteed (CARING) for Kids Act (H.R.6151), introduced Monday by Reps. Abby Finkenauer (D-IA) and Vern Buchanan (R-FL), would remove the recurring uncertainty around the federal health insurance program that covers 10 million of our nation’s children. CHIP is the only federal health insurance program subject to expiration, funding cliffs, offsets, and re-authorization votes. “CHIP is a bipartisan success story that has, since its inception...