Washington – The First Focus Campaign for Children, a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization, today sent a letter to members of the United States Senate urging passage of legislation to reauthorize federal primary and secondary education initiatives. A passage vote is expected today on the Every Child Achieves Act (S. 1177), championed by Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-Washington).

“It’s been 13 years since Congress updated America’s education law – action is well overdue, and we applaud Chairman Alexander and Senator Murray for finding a path forward,” said Campaign for Children President Bruce Lesley.

As the letter observes, the bill makes important improvements:

• Requires, for the first time, that districts begin integrating early childhood initiatives with K-12 education;
• Addresses the critical issue of “school climate” – a priority not only on safety concerns, but also concerns about disparate treatment of kids of color (who already face an alarming school achievement gap) in suspension, expulsion, and other discipline actions;
• Improves teacher professional development in Title II, giving districts the opportunity to increase their investments in recruiting, training, developing, and retaining good teachers;
• Adopts an amendment by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) making federal funds available to hire a coordinator charged with ensuring that students get maximum benefit from nutrition assistance, health care, or other supportive services delivered through community partnerships;
• Adopts an amendment by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) and Sen. Brown to support district and school efforts to establish community schools, by partnering with community organizations to better meet students’ needs, and;
• Adopts an amendment by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) aimed at helping more than one million homeless K-12 students, many of whom do not receive critical supportive services from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), because of a complex HUD definition and policy.

“The Senate must pass this bill to keep making progress toward reform,” said Lesley.

The letter notes that the legislation is not perfect. If adopted by the Senate, both chambers of Congress would appoint bipartisan “conference committee” negotiators tasked with developing a final package. The Campaign for Children urged lawmakers to consider specific improvements:

• Adding specific funding authorizations, as the Senate bill does not denote funding levels for any specific policy initiatives, tacitly accepting congressional budget caps that resulted in a nearly 20 percent cut to federal education funding over the last five years;
• Adding a federal teacher qualification standard, as the bill does nothing to guarantee that taxpayer funds are invested only in teachers with specific minimum qualifications;
• Strengthening anti-bullying policy, as the Senate rejected an amendment by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minnesota) to require effective prevention and response to the bullying of LGBT children;
• Make data-informed investments, as the Senate rejected an amendment by Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) requiring schools to identify resource gaps affecting student achievement – from not having counselors to not having science courses – and plan to close those gaps;
• Help kids succeed from the start, as the Senate rejected an amendment by Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pennsylvania) to make high-quality pre-Kindergarten affordable for more children, increasing the likelihood that they will enter Kindergarten ready to learn.

“No Child Left Behind failed because Congress matched high expectations with lowball funding – the question now is whether Congress has learned its lesson,” said Lesley.

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The First Focus Campaign for Children is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization affiliated with First Focus, a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization. The Campaign for Children advocates directly for legislative change in Congress to ensure children and families are the priority in federal policy and budget decisions. For more information, visit campaignforchildren.org.

Washington – The First Focus Campaign for Children applauded today Congresswomen Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) for offering an amendment to a House funding bill that would measure the impact of and help reduce child poverty in the United States. The amendment passed today in a voice vote of the appropriations committee.

The amendment would direct the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to provide an evidence-based, non-partisan analysis of the macroeconomic, health, and crime/social costs of child poverty. It would also provide recommendations to reduce the number of children living in poverty in the United States by half in ten years. The amendment is part of the federal fiscal year 2016 appropriations bill for the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and related agencies.

In response to the vote, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) made the following statement:

“I am elated that the Appropriations Committee passed my amendment to fund this important, evidence-based study.  The findings of this study will help our country develop effective policies and programs to fight the scourge of child poverty. Even in 21st century America, millions of children continue to experience horrible, nightmarish poverty. Not only is child poverty immoral, but it weakens our country, draining the talent and productivity of our next generation. America is the richest country on the planet: if we can’t keep our nation’s children from going hungry, how can we presume to serve as a moral beacon for the rest of the world? That is why I offered this amendment, and that is why I will continue to fight to ensure the study is fully implemented.”

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) made the following statement:

“Today in America, there are nearly 15 million child living in poverty. In the richest and most powerful nation in the world, one poor and hungry child is unacceptable; nearly 15 million is a travesty. Thanks to this study, Congress will be able to craft more effective strategies to reduce and eventually eliminate child poverty in America.”

First Focus Campaign for Children President Bruce Lesley made the following statement:

“A parent will sacrifice and put in hard work to give her child a better life. Shouldn't we expect the same from Congress on behalf of the one-in-five children living in poverty right now? Any policymaker who is serious about reducing child poverty needs to support the amendment the congresswomen offered. It's a smart, practical first step toward ending poverty for our children and families."

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The First Focus Campaign for Children is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization affiliated with First Focus, a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization. The Campaign for Children advocates directly for legislative change in Congress to ensure children and families are a priority in federal policy and budget decisions. For more information, visit www.campaignforchildren.org.

Washington – A letter sent today by 160 leading children’s advocacy organizations urges Congress to support President Obama’s fiscal year (FY) 2016 proposed investments in child welfare. The letter was coordinated by First Focus Campaign for Children, Children’s Defense Fund, Child Welfare League of America, Foster Family-based Treatment Association, Generations United, National Foster Care Coalition, and Voice for Adoption.

“The federal budget reflects our nation’s priorities,” said Bruce Lesley, President of First Focus Campaign for Children. “Congress can make our most vulnerable children and families a priority by supporting President Obama’s child welfare proposals.”

The letter is addressed to the leadership of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance and the Human Resources Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, which have jurisdiction over a number of child welfare programs. In additional to the coordinating groups, signatories of the letter include the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, and the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities.

Federal investments in child welfare have historically been targeted at supporting foster care rather than prevention, interventions, and treatments that keep children out of foster care. President Obama’s proposed FY 2016 budget would:

• Increase investments in evidence-based prevention and post-permanency supports for children at risk of entering foster care;
• Encourage family-based care, including relative care, rather than group homes for children and youth; and
• Reduce overprescribing of psychotropic medications for children and youth in foster care.

“When Congress invests in prevention and early intervention, families stay together and children never come to the attention of child welfare in the first place,” said Lesley.

Title IV-E of the Social Security Act is the major federal source of funding for child welfare services. Beginning in 2012, states were given the authority through waivers to use Title IV-E to test innovation and learn about what works best.

President Obama’s budget builds on lessons from the waivers and reinforces the importance of increased federal support for a range of prevention and early intervention services. Title IV-E waivers, meant to be temporary and informative, will end in FY 2019, increasing the urgency that Congress invest now in services for children, youth, and families involved in child welfare.

Federal investments in child welfare have decreased about 3 percent since FY 2011, adjusted for inflation. President Obama’s proposed budget would reverse that trend, and increase investments in child abuse and neglect by 6.3 percent from FY 2015.

“We hope and expect that policymakers who are serious about reducing child abuse and neglect will support the administration’s child welfare budget,” said Lesley. “Congress needs to make greater long-term federal investments to keep children safe and in permanent families.”

Download the letter.

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The First Focus Campaign for Children is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization affiliated with First Focus, a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization. The Campaign for Children advocates directly for legislative change in Congress to ensure children and families are a priority in federal policy and budget decisions. For more information, visit www.ffcampaignforchildren.org.

Washington – The bipartisan children’s advocacy organization First Focus Campaign for Children today endorsed legislation to set a national target date for the elimination of child poverty. Other endorsers included Child Welfare League of America, National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, National Network for Youth, Save the Children, and Save the Children Action Network. The Child Poverty Reduction Act (H.R. 2408), introduced today by Congressman Danny Davis (D-Illinois), Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-California), and Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia) aims to cut child poverty in half in 10 years and end child poverty in America within 20 years. The approach is modeled on a successful effort in the United Kingdom that resulted in significant child poverty progress. Measured in U.S. terms, the UK’s Child Poverty Target and resulting policy changes cut Britain’s child poverty rate by 50 percent during the effort’s first decade (1999-2009). By contrast, the U.S. child poverty rate increased by 23 percent, from 16.2 percent in 2000 to 19.9 percent in 2014.

“There’s one reason the last 15 years have been better for Britain’s children than for America’s – because the UK made a choice to reduce child poverty,” said First Focus president Bruce Lesley. “We applaud Congressman Davis, Congressman Connolly, and Congresswoman Lee for leading the effort in Congress, and we challenge their colleagues to commit to doing something on child poverty.”

Child poverty has devastating economy-wide effects. Georgetown University researcher Harry Holzer testified before Congress in 2007 that, in terms of lost productivity and increased health care and crime-related burdens, child poverty costs America’s economy nearly 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) every year. The Great Recession cost the economy 4.7 percent of GDP over two years.

“Allowing kids to remain in poverty does nearly as much harm to our economy as the Great Recession,” said Lesley. “We all have an interest in moving beyond hand-wringing and actually solving this problem.”

An April analysis by First Focus and the international policy analysis center InclusionUS reviews the UK’s Child Poverty Target: a multi-partisan agreement to eliminate child poverty by a date certain, with benchmarks against which to measure progress, and backed by independent monitoring. The paper tracks how the UK government coordinated with the equivalents of state and local governments. And it details how the UK government implemented a mix of policies aimed at meet the immediate needs of families with children and policies and policies designed to make families with children more economically resilient over the long term.

The Child Poverty Reduction Act adapts the poverty target idea for the United States. Key provisions include:

• Sets a national target to cut child poverty in half in 10 years and end child poverty by within 20 years;
• Charges a Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Child Poverty with developing a plan to reach that target, including recommendations to improve the coordination and efficiency of existing initiatives and recommendations for new legislation required to reach the target
• Requests the National Academy of Sciences to assist in the development of a plan by researching the societal costs of child poverty and make non-partisan recommendations on how to reduce child poverty; and
• Tasks the working group with monitoring progress toward the target at the federal and state levels

“Politics are the biggest obstacle to progress on child poverty – that’s the big lesson from Britain’s success. Yes, the policies ultimately matter, but getting all the parties to accept shared responsibility for real progress on child poverty would break the logjam,” said Lesley.

Poverty is a daunting problem, but one federal government has effectively responded to before. During the 1960s, the poverty rate for the elderly was higher than for children. Federal government dramatically reduced poverty among seniors, by enacting Social Security, Medicare, tax-subsidized retirement plans, and other effective antipoverty investments. But federal government failed to make similar investments in reducing child poverty. Today, the national child poverty rate is double the poverty rate for seniors. In some states, it’s close to triple.

“The federal government knows how to make real progress on poverty. For kids, they just haven’t,” said Lesley

Democratic and Republican Congressional representatives and presidential candidates have expressed concern about the nation’s persistently high poverty rate, often citing children as an imperative for change. But comprehensive proposals targeted to reducing child poverty had not been offered by lawmakers of either party, until today’s introduction of the Child Poverty Reduction Act.

“We hope and expect that policymakers who are serious about reducing child poverty will cosponsor this practical proposal, but we know not everyone will like this approach. For them, we have a simple message: we look forward to seeing your plan to end child poverty.”

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The First Focus Campaign for Children is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization affiliated with First Focus, a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization. The Campaign for Children advocates directly for legislative change in Congress to ensure children and families are the priority in federal policy and budget decisions. For more information, visit campaignforchildren.org.

Washington – The United States Senate today passed legislation aimed at improving protections and support for victims of human trafficking. The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (S. 178) includes several provisions that would benefit child sexual abuse and trafficking victims:

• Stronger Supports and Increased Collaboration – Authorizes new state-administered supports for trafficking victims, like life skills training, educational and job services, and improved collaboration between law enforcement agencies and service providers;
• Judicial Training – Authorizes training to help judges understand child victims’ needs and the availability of community resources to meet those needs, as well as training to avoid the inappropriate criminal conviction of trafficking victims; and
• Victims Fund – Creates a new fund to provide supportive services to victims, funded by $5,000 penalties against convicted traffickers

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a different trafficking bill, and the chambers must now reconcile differences between their proposals. This legislative effort comes on the heels of the bipartisan Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act, passed by Congress last year and enacted by President Obama. That law improves supports for children in foster care, aimed at reducing their vulnerability to trafficking.

But the Senate voted to reject an amendment (Senate Amendment 290) by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) that would have added the bipartisan Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act (S. 262) to the base bill. The bill would have extended federal housing initiatives serving runaway and homeless youth, improved training for adults likely to come into contact with runaway and homeless youth, and it would have required recipients of federal runaway and homeless youth funding to serve all eligible youth, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability. The Leahy amendment drew bipartisan support but failed 56-43 under a “unanimous consent” requiring a 60-vote supermajority for passage.

And the unanimous consent agreement reached yesterday, which allowed the bill to advance, did not permit a vote on an amendment (Senate Amendment 271) by Senator Rob Portman that would have added the bipartisan Homeless Children and Youth Act to the bill. Last year, local public schools reported serving nearly 1.3 million children, but most are ineligible for help from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) because they do not stay in HUD-funded homeless shelters and don’t meet HUD’s definition of “homeless.” The bipartisan Homeless Children and Youth Act would change HUD’s definition of “homeless” and require HUD to help all homeless children. The bill (S. 256) is sponsored in the U.S. Senate by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio). Companion legislation in the House (H.R. 576) is sponsored by Congressman Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), Congressman Rodney Davis (R-Illinois), and Congressman Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa).

Responding to the bill’s passage, the bipartisan children’s advocacy organization First Focus Campaign for Children released the following statement by its president, Bruce Lesley:

“For two years in a row, Republicans and Democrats have worked together to protect some of America’s most vulnerable children. We urge Senate and House negotiators to move quickly to deliver an anti-trafficking bill that protects kids and gives child victims the best chance to rebuild their lives.”

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The First Focus Campaign for Children is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization affiliated with First Focus, a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization. The Campaign for Children advocates directly for legislative change in Congress to ensure children and families are the priority in federal policy and budget decisions. For more information, visit campaignforchildren.org.

Washington – The bipartisan children’s advocacy group First Focus Campaign for Children today endorsed legislation, sponsored by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) and Congressman David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island), to prohibit child labor in tobacco-related corporate agriculture. The endorsement letter was also signed by more than 50 other children’s, health, and labor, and justice advocates.

“Senator Durbin and Congressman Cicilline get it,” said First Focus Campaign for Children president Bruce Lesley. “We don’t let kids consume tobacco products – we sure shouldn’t let kids risk their lives to produce them.”

The legislation responds to reports by Human Rights Watch that children have suffered injuries from sharp tools and heavy machinery on tobacco plantations, as well as illnesses associated with nicotine, pesticide, and other dangerous chemicals. The Campaign for Children urged a key congressional committee to hold hearings on child tobacco labor last year, but the committee did not act.

The United States Department of Labor reports that the 2011 farm fatality rate for all workers was more than seven times higher than the fatality rate for other industries. The National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety reports that, in 2012, a child died in an agriculture industry incident once every three days, and about 38 children were injured in such incidents every day.

Though child labor laws protect children from most dangerous occupations, a Depression-era regulatory exception allows tobacco producers and other agriculture industries to employ children in dangerous work. In 2012, the Department of Labor scuttled a proposed regulatory reform that would have prohibited corporate farms from assigning children to the most dangerous forms of agribusiness labor. Family farms would have been covered by an exception to that rule. In an unusual move, the Labor Department’s announcement went beyond withdrawing the rule, committing the agency to not pursuing the regulatory reform for the duration of the Obama Administration.

“Congress should advance this important legislation, but reform shouldn’t end there. The Obama Administration made a commitment – but it was the wrong commitment, and we want them to reverse it.” said Lesley.

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The First Focus Campaign for Children is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization affiliated with First Focus, a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization. The Campaign for Children advocates directly for legislative change in Congress to ensure children and families are the priority in federal policy and budget decisions. For more information, visit campaignforchildren.org.

Washington – Today, Senator Michael Bennet offered an amendment to the Medicare “Sustainable Growth Rate” (SGR) legislative package that would have extended funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) through 2019, when the program’s authorization ends. Without congressional action, CHIP funding ends in October. The base bill passed last month by the U.S. House of Representatives provides $5.7 billion to extend CHIP funding through 2017. The bill’s short-term CHIP extension is part of a much larger $214 billion package aimed at permanently securing health care for seniors. Senator Bennet’s amendment failed on a recorded vote of 50-50.

The First Focus Campaign for Children has marshalled national, state, and local leaders in repeated pushes for a four-year CHIP extension. Most recently, the Campaign’s partner organization, First Focus, coordinated a February letter urging congressional leadership to deliver a four-year CHIP extension. That letter was signed by more than 1,500 organizations, including Children’s Defense Fund, the Children’s Dental Health Project, the National Education Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Children’s Hospital Association, AARP, the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, LULAC, NAACP, and United Way Worldwide.

Last fall, 24 governors urged Congress last year to deliver a CHIP funding extension of four years or longer. That group included 14 Democrats and 10 Republicans, such as Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Just three governors requested a two-year CHIP funding extension. The Obama Administration’s 2016 budget proposed a four-year CHIP extension, as did the budget amendment offered last month by House Democrats.

Responding to today’s vote, the Campaign for Children released the following statement from its president, Bruce Lesley:

We commend Senator Bennet for his efforts to increase Congress’ investment in children’s health. Today’s vote isn’t a reflection on the amendment’s CHIP content – after all, an overwhelming majority of both Republican and Democratic governors called for a four-year extension. As we redouble our efforts to extend CHIP again in 2017, it’s good to know that we can count on leaders like Senator Bennet.”

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The First Focus Campaign for Children is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization affiliated with First Focus, a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization. The Campaign for Children advocates directly for legislative change in Congress to ensure children and families are the priority in federal policy and budget decisions. For more information, visit campaignforchildren.org.

Washington – United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) Thursday committed to push for a four-year extension of the bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program, indicating that he would “pull out all the stops to get a CHIP bill that is four years” during U.S. Senate debate over Medicare provider payment reform legislation. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a reform package last month, which included a two-year CHIP extension. Advocates for children, including the First Focus Campaign for Children, have urged the Senate to deliver a four-year extension, which would fund CHIP through its current authorization, which expires in 2019.

Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber was among 24 governors who urged Congress last year to deliver a CHIP funding extension of four years or longer. That group included 13 other Democrats and 10 Republicans, such as Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Just three governors requested a two-year CHIP funding extension. Governor Kitzhaber is no longer in office, but Oregon’s current governor, sent a letter to congressional leaders in March reiterating her Administration’s support for a four-year CHIP funding extension.

Responding to Senator Wyden’s comments, the First Focus Campaign for Children released the following statement from its president, Bruce Lesley:

“Senator Wyden and all of the Democratic members of the Finance Committee have been loud, clear, and consistent on this point – a four-year CHIP extension is the right policy for children’s health. Some of the country’s most conservative Republican governors have said so, too. We applaud Senator Wyden for this emphatic restatement of his intent to push for a four-year CHIP extension, and we urge Republicans and Democrats to work together to craft an amendment that can pass the Senate.”

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The First Focus Campaign for Children is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization affiliated with First Focus, a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization. The Campaign for Children advocates directly for legislative change in Congress to ensure children and families are the priority in federal policy and budget decisions. For more information, visit campaignforchildren.org.

Washington – The United States House of Representatives today passed a $210 billion legislative package intended to fix a widely-lamented Medicare provider payment system. The bill also extends the bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program (MIECHV) for two years. CHIP is widely credited with reducing the uninsured rate for children to record levels, even in the wake of a recession that cost millions of children their employer-sponsored healthcare. MIECHV is a voluntary, evidence-based initiative providing coaching and support for new parents. Home visiting has been shown to improve the health and development of children, while increasing children’s school readiness and their family’s economic stability.

Today’s vote clears the legislation for consideration in the U.S. Senate. Every U.S. Senate Democrat has cosponsored legislation that would extend CHIP for four years. Democratic members of the Senate Finance Committee issued a joint statement recently, indicating that a four-year CHIP extension was essential to securing bipartisan support for the Medicare package. Several other senators have made similar public statements.

Responding to the House vote, the First Focus Campaign for Children issued the following statement from its president, Bruce Lesley:

“Today’s vote is an important step forward for children. In extending the bipartisan home visiting program for two-years, it protects an effective investment in the future of more than 100,000 families. Today’s vote also moves the debate to the Senate, creating an opportunity to secure the health care of 8 million children with a four-year CHIP extension.”

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The First Focus Campaign for Children is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization affiliated with First Focus, a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization. The Campaign for Children advocates directly for legislative change in Congress to ensure children and families are the priority in federal policy and budget decisions. For more information, visit campaignforchildren.org.

Washington – United States Senators Patty Murray (D-Washington) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Congressman Jared Polis (D-Colorado) and Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) introduced legislation today to support states invested in higher education access for all students, including undocumented students. The Investing IN States To Achieve Tuition Equity (IN-STATE) for Dreamers Act would eliminate a bureaucratic obstacle for states that make in-state tuition rates available to qualifying students regardless of immigration status, including qualifying students issued deferred action under the Obama Administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals initiative. It would also provide $750 million in increased funding for states that exercise their option to make college education more accessible.

A 2013 First Focus analysis on the higher education barriers facing immigrant students. The report, Access to Education: Challenges and Opportunities for Immigrant Students, highlights the potential gains from improved in-state tuition access and the elimination of federal obstacles for immigrant students.

In response to the bill’s introduction, the First Focus Campaign for Children released the following statement by its president, Bruce Lesley:

“America wins when every young person has an opportunity to reach his or her full potential and contribute to our nation’s success. Eliminating the barriers to children’s success is the best way to build a strong and vibrant future for America.”

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The First Focus Campaign for Children is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization affiliated with First Focus, a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization. The Campaign for Children advocates directly for legislative change in Congress to ensure children and families are the priority in federal policy and budget decisions. For more information, visit campaignforchildren.org.