Every facet of the lives of children and families are being disrupted during this historic public health and economic crisis. Unfortunately, both their short-term and long-term consequences and challenges are not being fully considered or discussed. This crisis is severe and will last for months or even years to come. Moreover, the resulting physical and mental health consequences, impact on education and child development, and economic implications of this calamity will last well beyond the coronavirus itself.

That is why First Focus Campaign for Children called on Congress to safeguard the physical, emotional, financial, and developmental health and well-being of our nation’s 74 million children with a specific package of legislative proposals across a range of issues — including children experiencing hunger and homelessness.

Child food insecurity remained high in the United States before COVID-19, with 1 in 7 children (11.2 million) living in a household that struggled to put food on the table. Now with school closures leading to limited access to school meals and low-income household budgets being stretched even thinner, more children are experiencing, or are at-risk of experiencing, hunger and food insecurity. We urge Congress to build on the nutrition assistance provided in previous aid packages to ensure that families with children can put food on the table. To achieve these goals, we urge you to:

• Increase SNAP: Increase Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by 15 percent, with an additional 20 percent bump for families with children, and increase the minimum SNAP benefit from $16 to $30 a month. The poorest families already receive the maximum amount so it is essential to increase benefit levels for those families with little or no income. In addition, waive SNAP work requirements for college students.
• Extend Pandemic EBT Transfers: Extend the Pandemic-Emergency Benefit Transfers through the summer and permit additional distribution sites.
• Increase WIC Funding and Access: Increase the amount of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program’s Cash Value Benefit as well as increase access to the program through raising the eligibility age for children up to age 6, increase postpartum eligibility for up to two years, and extend infant and child certification for two years.

Child and youth homelessness continues to skyrocket in the United States, with 1.5 million students identified as homeless by the U.S. Department of Education in the 2017-2018 school year, a 10 percent increase from the previous year. The coronavirus outbreak only serves to exacerbate this problem, both by putting additional children and youth at risk of homelessness, and by increasing threats to the safety and well-being of children and youth currently experiencing homelessness in doubled-up situations, motels, shelters, and on the street. We call on Congress to:

• Increase support to children and families experiencing homelessness in all forms: Establish a Family Stabilization Fund within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to provide emergency relief for homeless families.  These funds would be administered to agencies and programs eligible for grants under ACF and in partnership with local educational agencies, public housing agencies and other entities to provide funding to meet the needs of families with children experiencing homelessness. This funding could be used for shelter and housing-related needs, as well as health and safety needs including hygiene needs and mental health services. These funds would be available through September 2021.
• Target aid to students experiencing homelessness: Fund the McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program at $500 million to provide enhanced targeted funding to identify students experiencing homelessness and support their educational needs. Congress should allow these funds to be used broadly to provide immediate relief to students and their families as they are identified as homeless by school systems, including to address the unique needs of young children, unaccompanied youth, children and youth with disabilities, and English Language Learners.
• Institute a moratorium on all evictions and utility shut offs nationwide: Institute a moratorium on all evictions nationwide, including from hotels and motels as well as all utility shut offs. This moratorium should freeze all existing eviction orders and eliminate late fees for back rent owed.
• Provide emergency rent relief to prevent homelessness: Create an emergency assistance fund as included in the bipartisan Eviction Crisis Act (S. 3030), to help families with rent relief and other housing-related costs. Families should not worry about building up large rent arrears due to trying to cover other bills.
• Establish a right to civil counsel and increase funding for civil legal services: Establish a right to civil counsel for all families facing eviction or other housing disputes and provide an increase in funding of at least $75 million for the Legal Services Corporation to meet the increased civil legal service needs of families with housing disputes, as well as other civil legal needs such as domestic abuse protective orders, child custody orders, unemployment benefits, and more.
• Increase funding for RHYA programs: Increase Runaway and Homeless Youth Act programs by $300 million - $150 million for current grantees and $150 million for new grantees.
• Ensure tribal eligibility for Homeless Assistance Grants: Allow tribes and tribally designated entities to be eligible for McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grant funding.

For a full list of our specific policy recommendations across the array of children’s issues, check out our letter to Congress.

Every facet of the lives of children and families are being disrupted during this historic public health and economic crisis. Unfortunately, both their short-term and long-term consequences and challenges are not being fully considered or discussed. This crisis is severe and will last for months or even years to come. Moreover, the resulting physical and mental health consequences, impact on education and child development, and economic implications of this calamity will last well beyond the coronavirus itself.

That is why First Focus Campaign for Children called on Congress to safeguard the physical, emotional, financial, and developmental health and well-being of our nation’s 74 million children with a specific package of legislative proposals across a range of issues — including education.

As schools remain closed and students continue their education from home, it is imperative that emergency resources allocated for education reach all students equally and provide all students with the ability to continue learning during this crisis. The CARES Act provided a good start to doing so, allocating nearly $31 billion for educational services. However, there remains concern regarding challenges to online learning for vulnerable students, including low-income, rural, and special education students. We urge Congress to do the following to ensure that all students are able to maintain a quality education:

• Close the “Homework Gap”: Allocate funds from the Education Stabilization Fund to address the “homework gap,” affecting the more than 7 million K-12 students who do not have access to Wi-Fi, connection devices, or mobile wireless service at home. To address this gap, Congress should waive regulations for the E-rate program and provide additional appropriations of $2 billion to address technology inconsistencies across schools.
• Ensure Quality Distance Learning for Special Education Students: Rescind waiver authority given under the CARES Act to the U.S. Secretary of Education regarding guidance for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or the Rehabilitation Act (REHAB). In times like this, no action should be taken to undermine the civil rights of students with disabilities. With regard to continuing education for special education students, the U.S. Department of Education and Congress should continue to provide Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) to students with disabilities, continue involving parents in the decision-making process for their child, keep parents’ right to due process intact, and use federal funds to adhere to civil rights given under IDEA and the REHAB Act.
• Assist Students in Receiving Support to Which They Are Entitled: Require institutions of higher education to proactively reach out and inform all students who were classified as independent students about emergency aid that may be available, and give them priority access to assistance. In addition, institutions should be required to streamline financial aid determinations for homeless and foster youth, and provide assistance in completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form.
• Prepare for Increased Need for Summer Learning and Afterschool Programs: Provide an immediate funding increase of $500 million for 21st Century Community Learning Centers to address increased need for summer learning programs later this summer and afterschool programs in the fall. Furthermore, provide flexibility for programs to serve students in ways that work for each community, and do not punish grant-funded afterschool programs that cannot operate due to unsafe public health conditions.

For a full list of our specific policy recommendations across the array of children’s issues, check out our letter to Congress.

Every facet of the lives of children and families are being disrupted during this historic public health and economic crisis. Unfortunately, both their short-term and long-term consequences and challenges are not being fully considered or discussed. This crisis is severe and will last for months or even years to come. Moreover, the resulting physical and mental health consequences, impact on education and child development, and economic implications of this calamity will last well beyond the coronavirus itself.

That is why First Focus Campaign for Children called on Congress to safeguard the physical, emotional, financial, and developmental health and well-being of our nation’s 74 million children with a specific package of legislative proposals across a range of issues — including juvenile justice.

There are approximately 43,000 justice-involved youth who are detained in facilities away from their homes on an average night in our country. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), nearly 60 percent of these youth are detained for violating terms of their probation, committing status offenses (such as skipping school or running away), or committing misdemeanors. In addition to other status offenses, youth should also not be subject to criminal punishment for violation of quarantine protocols, as their brains are still undergoing critical stages of development. Facilities pose a serious risk to these young people during the pandemic and an increased health cost to states. Justice-involved youth are particularly vulnerable because they are more likely to have underlying health issues. Congress can respond to the needs of states and justice-involved youth by taking the following actions:

• Increase Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Programming: Appropriate $100 million to prevent and mitigate the COVID-19 risks for justice-involved youth. These funds should remain available until September 30, 2021, to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, of which $75 million shall be granted to state and local agencies for juvenile delinquency programming authorized by section 221 of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, and $25 million for delinquency prevention, as authorized by section 504 of the Act.
• Incentivize States to Release Youth from Detention Facilities: Incentivize states and localities to release detained youth by increasing the FMAP by 2 percent for any state or jurisdiction that enacts widespread policies that release 10 percent or more of their state prison and youth detention population. Allow states to receive an additional 1 percent increase in FMAP for working with local jurisdictions to release 15 percent or more of their local jail population for the duration of the pandemic. These states and local jurisdictions can remain eligible for an increased FMAP if they maintain these decreases after the immediate COVID-19 crisis has passed.
• Urge Bureau of Prisons to Release Juveniles from Custody: In 2017 there were fewer than 45 youth in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons. The recidivism rates for youth in BOP custody is low but the risk of them contracting this deadly virus while in congregate care is unacceptably high. Congress should incentivize BOP to release juveniles from custody and provide funding for alternative ways to meet these youth‘s supervisory and treatment needs.

For a full list of our specific policy recommendations across the array of children’s issues, check out our letter to Congress.