First Focus Campaign for Children — in collaboration with 17 other child and family advocacy organizations — sent the following letter to the leadership of both chambers of Congress urging them to ensure the Child Tax Credit is fully refundable and reaches all children in low- and no-income households with the greatest need.

Excerpt from the letter:

This is a pivotal moment for Congress to enact lasting, structural policy change to both mitigate the economic hardships falling on our families and children due to COVID that are disproportionately harming communities of color, and tackle our persistent and unacceptably high level of child poverty. Investments to benefit all our children today lead to positive outcomes for their health and well-being and help to ensure our nation’s prosperity. Ample research tells us that strengthening and expanding the Child Tax Credit and converting it into a monthly child allowance is one of the most powerful ways to address child poverty and increase long-term positive outcomes for our children. We strongly urge Congress to adopt changes to the Child Tax Credit, reflecting the provisions in the American Family Act (S.690/H.R. 1560), to ensure it is fully refundable and reaches all children in low- and no-income households with the greatest need.

Read the full letter here.

First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus alerting them to a few issues of importance for Hispanic children and to pledge our support in working with them to address these issues.

Excerpt from the letter:

The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act corrects a major problem in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) in which children were valued at just 41.7 percent of adults ($500 per child versus $1,200 for adults) under the recovery rebate program. The HEROES Act provides full parity of $1,200 for both adults and children and acknowledges that every aspect of the lives of children is being impacted by the dual COVID-19 and economic crises. The legislation also fixes some of the shortcomings in the CARES Act “recovery rebate” program by expanding eligibility to college students, dependents over 16, and immigrant families. These are all critically important improvements that we strongly support.

Read the full letter.

First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to Congressional leaders in both houses with a set of recommendations to address the needs of our nation’s children and youth as our country faces two crises — the spread of COVID-19 and the resulting economic impact as businesses and schools remain closed and consumers stay home.

Excerpt from the letter:

This outbreak and the resulting economic crisis are falling hardest on the most vulnerable among us, including our nation’s children. It is disrupting every facet of children’s lives and we cannot yet know all of the negative and long-lasting implications it will have on children’s healthy development and future success.

While we applaud the passage of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the CARES Act, we know much more is needed to address all of the ways that this outbreak is affecting child well-being in the United States. We urge Congress to treat children equitably to help meet their needs in additional legislative packages.

Read the full letter.

First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to Congressional leaders in both houses, urging them to prioritize the well-being of children in America as they respond to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Excerpt from the letter:

We applaud Congress for passing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and now urge Congress to again act quickly to provide additional and immediate economic relief in the form of increased access to healthcare, direct cash transfers, housing assistance, education support, child care assistance and more in order to protect the health of all children and families in the United States and provide households with some financial stability to weather times of uncertainty.

We ask for you to act in the following ways:

• Implement an immediate and direct cash assistance program of at least $2,000 that prioritizes children and available to all children who need it most. The direct cash support should be robust and on scale with the crisis, reach those quickly who need it most, including those with no income, and available in timely payments until the economy recovers. It also should not result in the unintended exclusion of babies and young people who would qualify now but would not have been eligible in 2018. We know that an immediate cash-transfer to low-and middle-income families during this public health emergency will help to address the loss of income too many households are experiencing now, and others will endure as the economy continues to slow down, businesses close and layoffs occur. Expansion of the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit also would help to ensure some household financial stability for many low-income and vulnerable populations during these times of grave uncertainty;
• Provide emergency cash assistance to families through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program;
• Increase the Medicaid FMAP by at least ten percentage points;
• Mandate 12-month continuous eligibility in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP);
• Reduce enrollment barriers and red tape for enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP;
• Enroll newborns without alternative coverage in Medicaid automatically;
• Provide Medicaid coverage to any population not currently eligible;
• Increase Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for every household enrolled in the program;
• Fund McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) at $500 million and allow for broader use of funds to meet the temporary housing, health, safety, transportation, and educational needs of homeless children and youth, including the unique needs of young children, unaccompanied youth, children and youth with disabilities, and English Language Learners;
• Increase Runaway and Homeless Youth Act programs by $128 million and bypass the current competitive grant process and distribute to existing grantees;
• Increase the Service Connect for Youth on the Streets program by $22 million and also bypass the current competitive grant process and distribute to existing grantees;
• Ensure that colleges and universities create plans to support students experiencing homelessness or housing instability during campus shutdowns;
• Boost Title IV-E Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (Chafee) funds above the current level of $143 million and temporarily waive the 30 percent Chafee housing cap for the duration of the crisis in order to provide additional support for living independent services for current and former foster youth;
• Require a percent point FMAP increase for Title IV-E to match the Medicaid FMAP increase to support children and families in the child welfare system;
• Implement a moratorium on evictions nationwide;
• Increase access to civil legal services for families facing evictions after moratoriums are lifted, or if moratoriums are not put into effect;
• Suspend the operation of the public charge rule for the duration of the crisis and ensure that no medical services utilized during the crisis apply to any reinstated rule;
• Significant and flexible emergency funding that will allow child care and Head Start programs to weather the growing public health and economic crisis and preserve the nation’s supply of family child care and community-based child care programs;
• Ensure emergency child care funding includes for public health workers and first responders;
• Accelerate efforts to address technology gaps and access to broadband and devices for students and families.

Read full letter here

First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to Representative Veronica Escobar, urging them to thank her for her leadership in introducing H.R. 2662, the Asylum Seeker Protection Act.

Excerpt from the letter:

The legislation would defund the Trump Administration’s “Remain in Mexico” or Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) policy, which began on January 29, 2019, and denies asylum seekers of due process and endangers their safety and well-being. The most recent reports are that U.S. officials have turned away and sent more than 59,000 people to Mexico, including more than 16,000 children, to wait on a court date.

Read the full letter here.

First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to all 100 U.S. Senators, urging them to consider legislation that would improve the lives and well-being of children.

Excerpt from the letter:

In the past, an important hallmark of the Senate has been its ability to work on a bipartisan basis to reach agreement on major important problems facing the nation and its future. At this moment in time, there are a number of critical challenges facing our nation’s children that the Senate should address. Children should not be treated as an afterthought. The best interest of children should be bipartisan and something that is in all of our interest. Children are our future. Unfortunately, here are areas in which we are currently failing our children...

Read the full letter here.

The following letter, signed by 54 presidents and CEOs was sent to all Members of Congress requesting reauthorization of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA).

Excerpt from the letter:

Children succeed when they are provided with the safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments necessary for healthy development. Creating conditions for healthy child development requires policy and practice solutions to minimize parental stress and build community capacity to support families in a meaningful way.

As chief executive officers of organizations dedicated to helping children and families thrive, and as organizations providing evidence-based and research-informed programs that are at the forefront of delivering services to strengthen families, we urge you to prioritize the reauthorization of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPT A) and maintain the House increase of $90 million for CAPTA State Grants and $75 million for the Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) grants in FY 2020.

First Focus Campaign for Children spearheaded the following letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) — along with 14 other advocacy groups joining as signatories — applauding his leadership to advance both important tax improvements that benefit children and low-income families and child care legislation. The letter also urges the Chairman and committee members to continue to ensure that any legislative effort to move some tax provisions (extenders and/or technical corrections to the 2017 law) this year includes tax improvements that would help to lift kids and working families out of poverty and build a tax code that is fairer and more equitable toward low- and moderate- income families and children.

Excerpt from the letter:

As national advocacy organizations committed to improving the well-being of our nation’s children and the economic security of women and working families, we write to thank you for your leadership in crafting and shepherding through committee the Economic Mobility Act of 2019 (H.R. 3300), and the Child Care Quality and Access Act of 2019 (H.R. 3298). The much-needed tax and child care assistance in these provisions are critical investments for low-income workers, women and children. In the coming months, Congress likely will consider legislation to extend a suite of temporary tax breaks for businesses and/or make corrections to the 2017 tax law, and we urge you to stand firm on the inclusion of tax-credit improvements and policy changes benefitting working families and children, such as those in H.R. 3300 and H.R. 3298, in any year-end legislative package. These policies will build momentum for additional, permanent reform of the tax code that supports parent’s participation in the labor force, and helps struggling families afford basic necessities, make ends meet, and strengthen their children’s healthy development.

Read the full letter here.

First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) to express support for the Protect American Values Act (S. 2482), which she introduced.

Excerpt from the letter: The Trump Administration’s new public charge rule, finalized on August 12th, 2019 despite historic public opposition, imposes sweeping changes to long-standing, bipartisan immigration policy that jeopardizes America’s future and intensifies the challenges faced by immigrant families and children.
Children of immigrants are the fastest-growing group of children in the country, and approximately one in four (8 million) children live in a family with at least one immigrant parent. Therefore, the administration’s rule to expand who may be deemed a public charge (i.e., burden on the public coffers) in the consideration of an application for lawful permanent resident status or lawful admission would jeopardize our country’s economic future by targeting access to health care, nutrition assistance, and housing support for this fast-growing population....We applaud your leadership...and look forward to working with you to help advance this important legislation.

Read the full letter here.

First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to Reps. Kim Schrier (D-WA) and Steve Stivers (R-OH) supporting their bill, the Early Detection to Stop Infant Abuse and Prevent Fatalities Act (H.R. 2076).

Excerpt From the Letter: Child abuse and neglect is a serious issue that has lasting impacts on children for years to come. Early detection of abuse and neglect is imperative in protecting the wellbeing of American children. Medical providers, child protective workers, and caregivers of young infants should have support from our government in order to effectively identify such indicators and protect children from further harm.

Read the full letter here.