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WASHINGTON – On Friday, October 9, Representatives Karen Bass (D-CA), Judy Chu (D-CA) and Luis V. Gutiérrez (D-IL) will introduce a resolution calling for the United States to adopt a Children’s Bill of Rights.  The United States stands alone as the only nation not to ratify the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and lacks a comprehensive framework governing the rights of children.  This is a step in changing that.Reps. Bass, Chu and Gutiérrez will be joined by Washington area school children, First Focus Campaign for Children President Bruce Lesley, and other advocates who have been fighting for clear policies...

Pittsburgh Post-GazetteBy The Editorial BoardDefine homelessness. Think that sounds easy? Well, when it comes to federal agencies, the answer can be confusing — and contradictory.A report released by the advocacy group First Focus Campaign for Children and based on U.S. Department of Education statistics showed a troubling increase in the number of homeless students both statewide and across the nation. Nationally, there were 1.4 million children identified as homeless attending public schools in 2013-14, 22,765 of them in Pennsylvania...Read more

Washington – The United States Census Bureau today released national poverty data for 2014, reporting that about one-fifth (21.1 percent) of children lived in poverty last year. The child poverty remained well above the overall poverty rate of 14.8 percent and more than double the 10 percent poverty rate for senior citizens. The agency reported even higher poverty rates for children of color: 31.9 percent for Latino children and 37.1 percent for African American children. This data comes on the heels of last week’s Urban Institute analysis, showing that 39 percent of children in America spend at least a...

MTV NewsBy Rae PaolettaOn a national level, it seems that economically at least, we’re climbing out of The Great Recession, which experts say lasted from 2007 to about 2009. But new federal data suggests that the recovery has been very uneven, and, in fact, young people are among the groups struggling the most.In the 2013-2014 school year, the number of homeless children in public school reached a new peak of 1.36 million nationwide. That’s double the number of homeless kids in public schools before the recession...Read moreThere Are More Homeless Students Now Than...

Pittsburgh Post-GazettteBy Mary NiederbergerThe number of homeless students attending public school in Pennsylvania increased by 18 percent between the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years — an increase more than double the national average of 8 percent, according to statistics reported by the U.S. Department of Education.And while that one-year increase seems dramatic, even more troubling is the 94 percent increase in homeless students in the state since the start of the economic recession in the 2007-08 school year...Read morePennsylvania sees rise in homeless students: http://bit.ly/1FcQql0 v/ @PittsburghPG h/t @First_Focus #HCYA #InvestInKids Tweet this now....

The Washington PostBy Lyndsey Layton and Emma BrownThe number of homeless children in public schools has doubled since before the recession, reaching a record national total of 1.36 million in the 2013-2014 school year, according to new federal data.The latest homeless count, an 8 percent increase over the 2012-2013 school year, is a sign that many families continue to struggle financially even as the economy recovers from the housing collapse of 2008. And it offers a glimpse of the growing challenges that public schools face nationwide as they seek to educate an increasing number of low-income children...Read...

Washington – U.S. Department of Education data shows the number of homeless children and youth attending America’s public schools has risen to a record-breaking 1,360,747. That number, for the 2013-2014 school year, is up 8 percent from the prior school year and double the 679,724 homeless children and youth attending public schools during the 2006-2007 school year. Despite the dramatic increase in child and youth homelessness since the economic recession, the data likely represents an undercount, as Education Department data does not include homeless infants and toddlers, young children who are not enrolled in public preschool programs, homeless children...

Table MagazineBy Bridget KevaneSome might call Sonia Nazario a heroine. Others might call her a troublemaker. Some might not like her position on immigration. Others might not like her outspokenness about the inherent problems of immigrants leaving children behind. By any measure, however, Nazario may be one of the most important Jewish social activists that you have never heard of.In 2015 alone she has received awards from the First Focus Campaign for Children and the Golden Door Award from HIAS Pennsylvania. She has also testified before Congress and the United Nations and is routinely speaking at college campuses around...

The Morning ConsultA majority of voters support federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, even as some lawmakers are considering nixing the multi-billion dollar program.A new poll from Morning Consult shows 64 percent of registered back federal funding for CHIP: 37 percent say they want the program to be fully funded, while the other 27 percent say they support funding at a lower dollar amount...Read MorePoll: Majority Support Funding Children’s Health Insurance: http://bit.ly/1K6a7LT v/ @MorningConsult h/t @First_Focus Tweet this now.

Las Vegas SunBy Bruce LesleyNevada’s rising child-poverty rate is alarming (“23 percent of Nevada children live in poverty,” lasvegassun.com, July 21). But what’s appalling is that political gridlock obstructs action to reduce devastating child-poverty levels...Read moreRead: Letter from @BruceLesley and @Campaign4Kids about gridlock preventing reduction of child poverty. http://bit.ly/1ORqJ9A #InvestInKids Tweet this now.