Pages tagged "News Article"
Rep. Dave Reichert to chair Ways and Means subcommittee on welfare programs
In October, Reichert was one of 50 members of Congress and one of only three Republicans to be named as top advocates for children by First Focus Campaign for Children. The group also cited Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, and Sen. Patty Murray.
HealthWave success
Kansas’ $12 million federal award (“Enrollments in Medicaid earn state a bonus,” Dec. 21 Business Today) is a welcome reminder that when Republicans and Democrats work together, government can make real progress for real people – in this case, cutting red tape to cover uninsured children.
This award recognizes HealthWave’s success in protecting children’s health. While thousands of families have lost employer-sponsored health insurance, the uninsured rate among Kansas children has actually fallen, thanks to HealthWave and Medicaid.
That success happened because Republicans and Democrats in Topeka put children’s health ahead of politics and built a system that works for kids.
The federal HealthWave law will expire in 2015 unless Congress acts to extend and enhance it first. Leaders on both sides of the aisle need to hear that covering uninsured kids is a success story Kansas families want to continue.
Bruce Lesley
President, First Focus Campaign for Children
Letter: With CHIP, Utah leading
Deseret News (Utah)
Utah's federal bonus ("Utah gets federal bonus money for CHIP programs," Dec. 19) is a welcome reminder that when individuals across the political spectrum work together, government can make real progress.
While thousands of families have lost employer-sponsored health insurance, the uninsured rate among Utah children has increased less than 1 percent, thanks to CHIP and Medicaid. That success happened because Republicans and Democrats in Salt Lake City put children's health ahead of politics.
We know America needs that spirit of cooperation in Washington. The federal CHIP law will expire in 2015, unless Congress acts to extend and enhance it first.
Bruce Lesley, President, First Focus Campaign for Children
Washington, D.C.
Hoping the feds will protect CHP+ like Colorado did
Colorado’s federal Medicaid bonus is a welcome reminder that when Republicans and Democrats work together, government can make real progress for real people — here, cutting red tape to cover uninsured children.
This award recognizes the success of Colorado’s Child Health Plan Plus in protecting children’s health. While thousands of families have lost employer-sponsored health insurance, Colorado’s child uninsurance rate has dropped, thanks to CHP+ and Medicaid.
That success happened because Republicans and Democrats in Denver put children’s health before politics and built a system that works for kids. As a bipartisan federal children’s advocacy organization, we know America needs that spirit of cooperation in Washington.
The federal CHP+ law will expire in 2015 unless Congress acts to extend it. Leaders on both sides of the aisle need to hear that covering uninsured kids is a success story Colorado wants to continue.
Bruce Lesley, Washington, D.C.
The writer is president the First Focus Campaign for Children.
How sequestration might affect Virginia’s children
As the federal “fiscal cliff” approaches, we’re hearing more about how various scenarios would affect politicians, defense contractors, high-income taxpayers, seniors and other constituencies. But an important group of Virginians with a lot on the line has been largely ignored: children.
The stakes are immense, because the recession has been hard on children. A recent analysis by the nonpartisan Urban Institute found that more than 100,000 Virginia children live with an unemployed parent — about the population of Roanoke. Compared to 2007, that’s nearly a 92 percent increase — and when you look at kids living with a long-term unemployed parent, the increase is more than 600 percent. Virginia’s need for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps) has increased more than 78 percent. And one out of every seven Virginia children now lives in poverty — a 28 percent increase since the start of the recession.
Federal investments can — and do — protect children from the worst harms of a bad economy. Together, the federal Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit lift nearly 5 million children out of poverty nationwide. Both credits are bipartisan policies that reward hard work. And both support local economies, helping parents buy food, clothes and other basics from area merchants. Likewise, federal unemployment benefits raise 600,000 children out of poverty.
But it’s not just cash in parents’ pockets that makes a difference for kids. The child hunger rate would be much higher without SNAP, which provides food for more than 20 million children. SNAP also boosts 1.7 million children out of poverty, as fewer parents must make the heartbreaking choice between paying the rent and putting food on the table. And the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Medicaid are critical lifelines, with CHIP focused specifically on kids and children accounting for half of the Americans who get the health care they need through Medicaid. Together, these successful investments have driven the uninsured rate among children to record lows, even as the recession has cost millions of parents their employer-sponsored health insurance.
The American people get it. An Election Day poll found overwhelming bipartisan support for investments that protect kids. More than 80 percent of voters (including about 75 percent of Republicans) want Congress to protect family tax credits that move kids out of poverty. About the same share want Congress to protect CHIP and to deliver a concrete plan to cut child poverty in half. And, if they were making federal budget decisions, voters would more than triple the budget share invested in kids.
Yet Congress has placed each of these investments — and many more that protect kids from economic harm — on the chopping block. If Congress fails to avert the fiscal cliff, important poverty-reducing improvements to unemployment benefits, the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit will automatically be repealed. Doing nothing also triggers automatic cuts to education funding and other important investments.
But some of the “solutions” on the table would do as much or more harm than doing nothing. For example, the budget plan passed by the U.S. House of Representatives would actually restrict kids’ access to the Child Tax Credit, raising taxes on working poor families. That same plan, touted by House leadership as a blueprint for fiscal cliff negotiations, would also make deep cuts to SNAP and put the health care of 30 million children at risk by fundamentally undermining Medicaid and ending CHIP.
That’s why it’s so important for parents — and every Virginian who wants the next generation of leaders, innovators, consumers and workers to succeed — to send a clear message to Congress: Don’t cut children’s services. Yes, the federal government has serious budget problems, but kids didn’t create them. Denying children the education, health care, basic nutrition and child care they need to grow and thrive is not a solution. Keep the policies and investments that offer a way out of poverty and provide the basic building blocks of successful adult lives.
Contact Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus Campaign for Children, at [email protected]. Contact John R. Morgan, executive director of Voices for Virginia’s Children, at [email protected].
Washington's kids are at the edge of the fiscal cliff
By Bruce Lesley and Jon Gould
As the federal “fiscal cliff” looms, we’re hearing more about how various scenarios would affect politicians, defense contractors, high-income taxpayers, seniors and other constituencies. But an important group of Washingtonians with a lot on the line has been largely ignored: children.
The stakes are immense, because the recession’s impact on children is still being felt in families all across Washington. A recent analysis by the nonpartisan Urban Institute found that nearly 150,000 Washington children live with an unemployed parent. That’s more than a 90 percent increase since 2007. When you look at kids living with a long-term unemployed parent, the increase is more than 400 percent...
Don't make kids bear the brunt of the fiscal cliff
As the federal "fiscal cliff" approaches, an important group of Marylanders with a lot on the line has been largely ignored: children. The stakes are immense, because the recession has been hard on Maryland children, with one out of every seven living in poverty.
A recent analysis by the nonpartisan Urban Institute found that nearly 120,000 Maryland children live with an unemployed parent — about triple the population of Annapolis. Compared to 2007, that's a 180 percent increase, and when you look at kids living with a long-term unemployed parent, the increase is 320 percent.
Maryland's need for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps) has increased more than 127 percent, with more than 340,000 families benefiting from the program in 2011. SNAP means fewer parents must make the heartbreaking choice between paying rent and putting food on the table. And with more than 119,000 kids receiving health care through the Maryland Children's Health Program last year, this too, is a critical lifeline.
In 2011, 395,000 hard-working Marylanders claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) on their federal returns. This credit, averaging about $2,200, helps parents buy the necessities from local businesses for the ever-changing needs of their growing children.
Maryland's children are at the edge of the fiscal cliff. Marylanders know it. So do the Maryland lawmakers who have stepped up to protect our children. For instance, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who chairs the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families, sent a letter to congressional leadership outlining the state of America's children and the need to avoid additional cuts to programs and services that benefit the nation's youngest residents.
The bottom line is this: If Congress fails to avert the fiscal cliff, important anti-poverty improvements to unemployment benefits, the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit will automatically be repealed. Doing nothing also triggers automatic cuts to education, nutrition for pregnant women and babies, and other important investments.
But some of the "solutions" proposed to avoid the fiscal cliff would also harm kids. For example, the budget plan passed by the U.S. House of Representatives would restrict kids' access to the Child Tax Credit, make deep cuts to SNAP, and undermine the Maryland Children's Health Program.
That's why it's so important for every Maryland parent to send a clear message to Congress: Don't scapegoat kids. Yes, the federal government has serious budget problems, but kids didn't create them. And denying children an adequate education, health care and child care they need to grow and thrive, basic nutrition, and a way out of poverty — the basic building blocks of successful adult lives — is the wrong way to solve them.
Rebecca Wagner is executive director of Advocates for Children and Youth. Bruce Lesley is president of First Focus Campaign for Children.
Summit Tries To Combat Hunger in Latino Children
Earlier this month, 250 community leaders, anti-hunger advocates, government officials and corporate executives met at Capitol Hill for the 2nd Annual NO MAS HAMBRE Summit. Also present were the Alliance to End Hunger, Latino Magazine and First Focus Campaign for Children.
Latinos face food insecurity amid fiscal cliff
In 2011, an estimated 26 percent of Latino households faced food insecurity, almost twice as much as other Americans, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food insecurity report.
An estimated 250 community leaders gathered at the summit. The organizations include the Alliance to End Hunger, Latino Magazine and First Focus Campaign for Children.
Summit tries to combat hunger among U.S. Latino children
On December 7, approximately 250 community leaders, anti-hunger advocates, government officials and corporate executives will gather at Capitol Hill to discuss this national problem at the 2nd Annual NO MAS HAMBRE Summit. Among the organizations that will be present are the Alliance to End Hunger, Latino Magazine and First Focus Campaign for Children.