Washington – United States Senator David Vitter (R-Louisiana) today offered an amendment that would deny U.S. citizenship to babies born in the United States, if the baby’s parents are both undocumented immigrants or lawfully-admitted nonimmigrants. The proposal would leave many such children stateless, because denying babies U.S. citizenship in no way confers upon them citizenship in the country of their parents’ origin. Senator Vitter’s proposal would also dramatically increase paperwork burdens for all U.S. citizens and agencies at every level of government. For example, The United States State Department currently accepts certified birth certificates as evidence of U.S. citizenship, but under the Vitter proposal, every passport applicant would also be required to document the citizenship status of his or her parents.

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

“This amendment targets children. It’s as wrongheaded as it is cold-hearted. The irony here is that the underlying bill aims to protect children from exploitation, but the Vitter amendment would drive children into the shadows, where they’re easier targets.”

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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 national Home Visiting Coalition today sent a letter with more than 750 signatories to congressional leadership, underscoring the urgent need for action to extend the authorization for the federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program, expiring in just four weeks. MIECHV supports evidence-based home visiting initiatives that provide the support, experience and knowledge critical to success during pregnancy and through the first few years of a child’s life. The letter includes signatories from every state and four territories, including national, state, local and tribal organizations and elected officials. National signatories represent a wide range of organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Federation of Teachers, American Psychological Association, National Association of Community Health Centers, National Association of Social Workers, National PTA, Prevent Child Abuse America, and the Salvation Army.

“Leaders from across the country are sending a clear message to Congress: time’s up,” said Bruce Lesley, president of the First Focus Campaign for Children, which is a member of the coalition. “Act this month to protect home visiting, or this bipartisan success story comes to an end.”

As the letter highlights, decades of research show that home visiting can prevent and mitigate serious problems facing children and their families. These include poor birth outcomes, child abuse and neglect, and childhood cognitive disabilities. Research also shows that home visiting can improve school readiness and academic achievement.

Research also confirms that home visiting can deliver cost-effective responses to the problems facing children and families. A RAND Corporation report found that two evidence-based home visiting programs saved between $1.80 and $5.70 per dollar invested.

MIECHV has a track-record of bipartisan support. Federal funding for voluntary evidence-based home visiting initiatives was first enacted by President George W. Bush. These efforts were consolidated and expanded in 2010, under MIECHV. Since then, Texas Governor Rick Perry, Georgia governor Nathan Deal, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, and other state leaders have tapped MIECHV funding to support locally-focused home visiting initiatives. MIECHV supports home visiting initiatives in every state, the District of Columbia, all five territories, and with tribal organizations. MIECHV offers states considerable flexibility in the design and focus of their home visiting initiatives, while applying accountability requirements that ensure federal funding is used only for supports that are proven to work.

In addition to the letter’s release, advocates for home visiting are coordinating a number of other activities intended to draw attention to the imminent end of MIECHV’s congressional authorization. These activities include grassroots calls to congressional representatives and a Capitol Hill fly-in bringing Prevent Child Abuse America representatives from every state to Washington for meetings with congressional offices.

"Continued funding for MIECHV should be an easy choice for Congress. Thanks to this proven program, states are successfully leveraging resources to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families on the individual, community and statewide levels," said Lori Tremmel Freeman, CEO of the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, a coalition member.

"Put simply, there is no wiser public investment than in the long-term success of our babies and their families. MIECHV provides support to families when it matters most - in their child's earliest years. Leaving the program’s future in limbo jeopardizes not only the federal and state investments, but the work of MIECHV home visitors in communities around the country to help parents put their children on the path to success in school and in life," said Matthew Melmed, Executive Director of ZERO TO THREE®, a coalition member.

“Home visiting programs are pro-family, voluntary, and most importantly, they work,” said James M. Hmurovich, President & CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America. “Democrats and Republicans worked together to pass funding for this program, so today representatives from the entire 50-state Prevent Child Abuse chapter network are simply asking them to work together and fund this successful program again.”

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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.

The Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs is a national resource, partner and advocate for state public health leaders and others working to improve the health of women, children, youth and families, including those with special health care needs.

Founded in 1977, ZERO TO THREE's mission is to ensure that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. We achieve this by translating research and knowledge-specifically information about the kinds of early experiences that help babies and young children thrive.

Washington – Today, U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chairman Joe Pitts (R-Penn.), full committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), and U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) released discussion draft legislation extending federal funding for the bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The proposal, which makes a number of policy revisions to the successful, bipartisan initiative, is the first offered by congressional Republicans since they took control of both chambers of Congress. Democrats in the Senate and House introduced separate CHIP bills earlier this month. Responding to the discussion draft’s release, the First Focus Campaign for Children released the following statement by its president, Bruce Lesley:

“We have been pushing for months for action on CHIP, and we applaud the leadership of Chairman Pitts, Chairman Upton, and Chairman Hatch in making this opening move. In keeping with CHIP’s track-record of bipartisan compromise, we look forward to working with congressional Republicans and Democrats to move quickly on legislation that continues the CHIP success story. As Congress acts, we’re guided by a few essential principles: most fundamentally, no child should be left worse off by Congress’ actions on CHIP; and in addition, states should continue to have the flexibility to build CHIP programs that meet their families’ needs, and CHIP must continue to serve as a lifeline for kids in hard-working families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid.”

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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 – Today, the First Focus Campaign for Children, a national bipartisan children’s advocacy group, recognized journalist Sonia Nazario for her leadership on issues important to children.

“Journalists often cover political debates without ever exploring the critical impact on children,” said Bruce Lesley, president of the Campaign for Children. “Sonia Nazario connected the dots, and her work has made children a priority for voters and policymakers.”

The First Focus Campaign for Children routinely recognizes members of Congress who advance policy to improve the health and well-being of children. The organization occasionally recognizes journalists whose work documents the impact of federal policy on the lives of children. In recognizing Ms. Nazario as a Champion for Children, the advocacy group cited her career-long track record of excellence in journalism exploring policy debates that matter for children. For more than 20 years Nazario has explored critical children’s policy issues, including childhood hunger and the consequences for children of a parent’s drug addiction. More recently, Nazario turned a Pulitzer Prize-winning series of Los Angeles Times articles into Enrique’s Journey. The national bestseller chronicles a 16-year-old boy’s odyssey from Honduras to the United States, driven by a need to reunite with a mother he had not seen in eleven years. During the recent debate regarding the increase of child migrants fleeing Central America, Nazario became an advocate for these children by sharing Enrique’s story before Congress, with major media outlets, and through numerous public speaking engagements.

“America’s broken immigration policy tears thousands of children from their parents every year and puts children in harm’s way, but most Americans never see the human consequences,” said Lesley. “Sonia Nazario challenges voters and policymakers to look into the faces of children who suffer every day because of Washington’s failure.”

“Most children coming to the U.S. alone and unlawfully today are fleeing devastating violence in Central America,” said Nazario. They are running for their lives. It is critical that policymakers treat them for what they are – refugees – vulnerable children who should be protected.”

The advocacy organization recognized as “Champions for Children” 50 Members of Congress for their extraordinary efforts to protect and improve the future of America’s next generation. An additional 50 Members were recognized as “Defenders of Children” for their support of policies that advance the well-being of children. Nazario was the only journalist recognized as a Champion for Children.

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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 – The First Focus Campaign for Children, a national bipartisan children’s advocacy organization, reacted to today’s introduction by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and more than two dozen other senators to extend funding for the bipartisan federal-state Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The bill would extend federal CHIP funding for four years. Unless Congress acts first, CHIP funding will end on October 1, 2015.

CHIP is a bipartisan success story, created by a Republican-controlled Congress and a Democratic president in 1997. The initiative offers state governments flexibility to deliver coverage through private health insurance companies using programs tailored to the needs of children in each state. It is credited in large part for the 50 percent reduction in the rate of uninsurance among children since the late 1990s and a child uninsured rate lower today than before the recession.

CHIP provides health care for eight million children. If CHIP funding is not extended, millions of those children will become uninsured, others will be added to states’ Medicaid rolls or get coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) “Marketplaces.” A study released last year shows that CHIP offers more coverage of child-specific care than Marketplace plans, with dramatically lower out-of-pocket costs.

Last month, U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch listed extending CHIP funding as a must-pass for the committee. Citing support from Republican and Democratic governors, Hatch expressed his expectation that the effort to extend CHIP funding will have bipartisan, bicameral support.

“CHIP protects children’s health and families’ economic security every day, and we thank Senator Brown for standing up for CHIP and children’s health. With strong support on both sides of the aisle, there’s no reason to wait – Congress should extend CHIP funding before the March recess.”

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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 – The White House today released a federal budget proposing increased investments benefiting nearly every aspect of a child’s life. Key elements of the president’s budget for children include:

• Increased funding to make quality child care affordable for more working families, plus expanded reach for the federal child care tax credit and a new “second earner” credit to help dual-income families manage child care costs;
• Stronger investments in early learning, including a more intensive Head Start initiative, increased preschool development grant funding, and continued funding for evidence-based voluntary home visiting;
• Extending funding for the bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program through 2019;
• A renewed commitment to public schools, with additional funding for teacher preparation, incentives to eliminate school funding disparities, and funding for school-community partnerships designed to help disadvantaged students succeed;
• Funding to reduce the incidence of youth violence and support states’ work with youth offenders;
• Increased funding for family housing vouchers;
• Supporting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps), which allocates nearly half of its funding to children in homes affected by hunger;
• Repealing federal budget sequestration, ending arbitrary budget caps for a wide range of children’s initiatives;
• Increased funding for child abuse and neglect prevention, as well as a new initiative to reduce the incidence of over-prescription of psychotropic medications to children in foster care

Reacting to the president’s budget proposal, the First Focus Campaign for Children released the following statement from its president, Bruce Lesley:

“From child care to high school, quality health care to preventing abuse and neglect, President Obama’s budget represents a real reinvestment in America’s children. Whether or not Congress adopts these specific proposals, the president’s budget is a model for a federal budget that makes kids a priority, not an afterthought.”

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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 – Advocates today applauded the introduction of bipartisan legislation to eliminate bureaucratic obstacles that deny federal assistance to nearly one million homeless children and youth.

The U.S. Department of Education estimates that nearly 1.3 million children and youth in America are homeless. Children and youth face the same problems as other homeless Americans, including hunger, health problems, and increased risk of exploitation and violence. But because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) uses a different definition of “homeless” than other federal agencies, the bulk of the nation’s homeless children and youth cannot get basic HUD-funded assistance. HUD’s definition and associated paperwork requirements practically exclude many homeless families from a safe place to stay, employment assistance, help finding housing, counseling, and help accessing health care and child care.

The Homeless Children and Youth Act, sponsored in the United States Senate by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio), and in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Steve Stivers (R-Ohio-15) and Congressman Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa-2^nd), would eliminate the definitional obstacle and funding restrictions that effectively deny most homeless children and youth basic assistance. The bill would not require local governments and nonprofits receiving HUD funds to prioritize children and youth over adults, but it would empower local leaders to serve all homeless people and end current policies that deny most homeless children and youth the same assistance available to homeless adults.

Organizations endorsing the legislation included the First Focus Campaign for Children, the National Network for Youth, the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, the National Center for Housing and Child Welfare, and Covenant House. Responding to the bill’s introduction, these organizations released the following statement by First Focus Campaign for Children president, Bruce Lesley:

“HUD denies help to nearly a million homeless children and youth who live every day with hunger, trauma, exploitation and violence. This bill offers a bipartisan plan to level the playing field, so Washington bureaucrats can no longer deny homeless people help just because they’re young.”

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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 www.campaignforchildren.org.

The National Network for Youth (NN4Y) is the nation’s leading network of homeless and runaway youth programs. The Network champions the needs of runaway, homeless, and other disconnected youth through strengthening the capacity of community-based services, facilitating resource sharing, and educating the public and policy makers. NN4Y’s members serve homeless youth across the country, working collaboratively to prevent youth homelessness and the inherent risks of living on the streets, including exploitation, human trafficking, criminal justice involvement, or death. For more information, visit www.nn4youth.org.

The National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth is a national membership association dedicated to supporting the educational success of children and youth experiencing homelessness. NAEHCY connects educators, service providers, advocates, families and youth to ensure school attendance and overall success for children and youth whose lives have been disrupted by homelessness. NAEHCY accomplishes its mission through advocacy, partnerships, and education. For more information, visit www.naehcy.org.

The National Center for Housing and Child Welfare (NCHCW) links housing resources and knowledge to child welfare agencies in order to improve family functioning, prevent family homelessness, and reduce the need for out-of-home placement. NCHCW also brings housing resources to child welfare agencies in order to ensure that older youth in foster care have a connection to permanent family as well as a solid plan for stable housing and services to help them be successful as adults.

Covenant House was founded in 1972 with the simple, profound mission to help homeless kids escape the streets. Today we are the largest privately funded charity in the Americas providing loving care and vital services to homeless, abandoned, abused, trafficked, and exploited youth.

Washington – The bipartisan children’s advocacy organization First Focus Campaign for Children today applauded President Barack Obama’s proposal for increased federal investment in children’s early development and education. According to First Focus’s Children’s Budget 2014, just four-tenths of one percent of federal spending during federal fiscal year 2013 was invested in the care and education of nearly 25 million children under school age. The White House proposal, released today, would strengthen family tax credits and increase funding for high quality child care, voluntary home visiting, Head Start and Early Head Start, and universal pre-Kindergarten (pre-K). Key elements of the White House proposal include:

• A federal-state partnership to make quality pre-K affordable for all children under five;
• An additional $80 billion over 10 years for the Child Care and Development Fund – funding sufficient to make quality child care affordable for all children under four;
• Tripling (to $3,000 per child) the maximum Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit for families with a child age five or younger;
• Make permanent a set of improvements to the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit that allow those credits to lift millions of children out of poverty every year;
• Extending Head Start to a full school day and year;
• Extending funding for voluntary, evidence-based home visiting, which will otherwise expire at the end of March; and
• Funding partnerships between Early Head Start and local child care providers to improve linkages between quality child care and early education

In response to the White House proposal, the First Focus Campaign for Children released the following statement from its president, Bruce Lesley:

“If we continue to ignore children’s developmental, health, and other needs during their first critical years, we’ll always be playing catch-up on education, on health care, and on a host of other issues. But if we give kids a better chance to thrive during those first years, every other problem gets easier to solve. We applaud President Obama for this new, better, and much more proactive approach to investments in America’s children.”

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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 organization First Focus Campaign for Children today sent a letter to members of the United States House of Representatives, urging opposition to floor amendments that would add anti-child provisions to legislation (H.R. 240) funding the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“Last week, House Speaker John Boehner spoke of building a ladder for children to reach the stars. This week, the House is voting to pull the ladder out from under millions of children,” said First Focus Campaign for Children president Bruce Lesley.

The letter details concerns with two of the five amendments anticipated to be made in order by the House Rules Committee. One, by Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), would roll back protections for an estimated 4.5 million U.S. citizen children whose families are protected by last year’s Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) initiative. DAPA provides relief from deportation for the parents of citizen and lawful permanent resident children. Past enforcement actions against parents have resulted in thousands of avoidable placements in states’ already-overburdened foster care systems.

“What does it say about a lawmaker’s family values when he or she votes to have federal agents snatch a mother away from her child?,” asked Lesley.

The other amendment cited in the letter, by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), would defund the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative and prevent its expansion. DACA includes elements of the broadly bipartisan DREAM Act, permitting qualifying immigrants who entered the U.S. without documentation as children to get an education, work, and contribute to America’s society and economy. The amendment would put 600,000 youth who have benefitted from the program at risk for deportation. DACA applications have come from children and young adults in every state in the Union.

“Rather than pushing for a status quo that tears families apart and directly harms children, we urge the House to work together on passing immigration reform legislation that honors our American values of keeping families together and putting children first,” said Lesley.

Contacts:
Ed Walz, First Focus Campaign for Children, 202-657-068
Brent Ewig, Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, 202-266-3041
Don Owens, Zero to Three, 202-302-5928

Washington – The national Home Visiting Coalition today sent a letter with more than 750 signatories to congressional leadership, urging timely action to extend funding for the federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program. MIECHV supports evidence-based home visiting initiatives that provide information, coaching and support for parents struggling to meet their children’s basic needs. The letter includes signatories from every state and four territories, including national, state, local and tribal organizations and elected officials. National signatories include the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Federation of Teachers, American Psychological Association, National Association of Community Health Centers, National Association of Social Workers, National PTA, Prevent Child Abuse America, and the Salvation Army.

“We can’t keep making the same mistake over and over again – ignoring the problems children face until they get too big or too bad to manage,” said Bruce Lesley, president of the First Focus Campaign for Children, which is a member of the coalition. “Leaders from across the country are sending a clear message to Congress: act now and avoid costly problems later.”

As the letter highlights, decades of research show that home visiting can prevent and mitigate serious problems facing children and their families. These include poor birth outcomes like prematurity and low birthweight, and other problems such as child abuse and neglect and childhood cognitive disabilities. Research also shows that home visiting can improve school readiness and academic achievement.

Research also confirms that home visiting can deliver cost-effective responses to the problems facing children and families. A RAND Corporation report found that two evidence-based home visiting programs saved as much as $5.70 per dollar invested.

MIECHV has a track-record of bipartisan support. Federal funding for voluntary evidence-based home visiting initiatives was first enacted by President George W. Bush. These efforts were consolidated in 2010, under MIECHV. Since then, Texas Governor Rick Perry, Georgia governor Nathan Deal, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, and other state leaders have tapped MIECHV funding to support locally-focused home visiting initiatives. MIECHV supports home visiting initiatives in every state, the District of Columbia, all five territories, and with tribal organizations. MIECHV offers states considerable flexibility in the design and focus of their home visiting initiatives, while applying accountability requirements that ensure federal funding is used only for effective family supports.

“Continued funding for MIECHV should be a no-brainer for Congress. Thanks to this proven program, states are successfully leveraging resources to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families on the individual, community and statewide levels,” said Lori Tremmel Freeman, CEO of the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, a coalition member.

The letter urges lawmakers to prioritize home visiting funding in the lame-duck congressional session or early in 2015. MIECHV is currently funded at $400 million a year, but that funding will expire at the end of March 2015.

“Put simply, there is no better investment the public can make than in the long-term success of our babies and their families. The MIECHV program provides support to families when it matters the most – in their child’s earliest years. Working through states and local communities, MIECHV home visitors help parents nurture their children, building strong relationships that form the foundation for success in school and in life,” said Matthew Melmed, Executive Director of ZERO TO THREE®, a coalition member.

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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.

The Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs is a national resource, partner and advocate for state public health leaders and others working to improve the health of women, children, youth and families, including those with special health care needs.

Founded in 1977, ZERO TO THREE’s mission is to ensure that all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. We achieve this by translating research and knowledge—specifically information about the kinds of early experiences that help babies and young children thrive.