Pages tagged "Press Release"
Over 320 Child, Youth Organizations Call for Immediate Passage of Dream Act
WASHINGTON—Today, the First Focus Campaign for Children joined more than 320 national, state, and local child and youth advocacy organizations to send a letter to Congress in support of the bipartisan Dream Act of 2017. The bill would provide lawful status and a path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of immigrant youth and young adults who came to the United States as children, including recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
The letter urges Congress to quickly pass a clean Dream Act that protects immigrant youth from the severe consequences of President Trump’s decision to end DACA. Right now, more than 800,000 Dreamers who have been able to access work authorization and protection from deportation are once again facing an uncertain future.
“CLASP stands with immigrant youth and over 300 organizations in calling on Congress to quickly pass the Dream Act,” said Olivia Golden, executive director of CLASP. “This is critical not only for Dreamers’ wellbeing and success, but for that of their families, including hundreds of thousands of young children who have DACA parents. The Dream Act is common-sense legislation that will help ensure every child has the opportunity to realize their potential, which is key to our nation's future.”
As organizations concerned with the health and wellbeing of children and youth, the signatories recognize that rescinding DACA will have immediate, severe consequences for recipients and their families. Recipients will lose their work authorization and once again be at risk for deportation, threatening their safety, economic security, and mental health—as well as that of their families. An estimated 25 percent of DACA recipients are parents to U.S. citizen children. The decision also means that more than 200,000 Dreamers under age 15 who were waiting to age into DACA no longer have the opportunity to apply.
"Our 66,000 pediatrician, pediatric medical subspecialist and pediatric surgical specialist members stand with the young immigrants facing an uncertain future by supporting passage of a clean Dream Act of 2017,” said Fernando Stein, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “As they grew into young adults, DACA recipients have served our country in uniform, they have graduated from our colleges and universities, they have invested in our communities and they work in our cities and towns. Our country is the only meaningful home these children—who are now young adults—have ever known. The Dream Act will allow them to remain here, where they belong.”
“The bipartisan Dream Act of 2017 will provide Dreamers—including our youngest Dreamers—educational and employment opportunities ripped away when the president ended DACA,” said Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children’s Defense Fund. “It will also provide an eventual path to citizenship for these young people, strengthening their futures and the future of our nation.”
“Dreamers deserve permanent legal status,” said Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus Campaign for Children. “For these young people, the United States is home, and now the termination of DACA has put their futures at risk. Many have no connection to the countries where they were born. The Dream Act would ensure that hardworking young people who arrived here as children are able to pursue their dreams and contribute to our nation’s prosperity.”
“In California, DACA provided over 220,000 immigrant youth a pathway to achieve their dreams. Rescinding the program has caused fear and panic—putting children and youth at higher risk of anxiety and depression and harming their healthy development,” said Mayra E. Alvarez, president of The Children’s Partnership. “As advocates for children, we understand that this policy extends far beyond its intended recipients. If DACA parents are detained, deported, and/or unable to work legally, their children could lose housing, struggle to get food, and fall into poverty. The American values of hard work and fairness are part of every family who calls this country home. We join our partners and urge leaders to put our nation’s values into action through passage of the Dream Act.”
“Our young people—and our country—are strongest when they embrace diversity. Our country needs to practice the same social-emotional skills that we teach our children and youth,” said Karen Pittman, president and CEO of the Forum for Youth Investment. “Dreamers embody empathy, teamwork, responsibility, initiative, problem solving, and love. Disrupting the lives of nearly one million DACA youth hurts us all. It undermines our moral, social, and economic values and teaches the wrong lessons to all our young people.”
The signatories are committed to ensuring that all children and youth in the U.S. have the opportunity to thrive. As stated in the letter, “the Dream Act of 2017 is bipartisan legislation that reflects the full diversity of the Dreamer population, including those who are parents, and will help ensure all eligible children and youth have the opportunity to pursue their educational and career goals.”
Congress May Allow CHIP to Expire Amid New Effort to Harm Medicaid, Kids
WASHINGTON—With only a handful of legislative days left to extend funding for the popular and bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Congress is focused instead on a proposal by Senators Cassidy, Graham, Heller, and Johnson to do enormous harm to the Medicaid program and the 38 million children who depend on it.
Bruce Lesley, President of the First Focus Campaign for Children, said:
“The nearly 9 million American kids who rely on CHIP for their healthcare are once again being ignored by a Congress intent on playing politics with their well-being. The program expires in just days and, yet, the bipartisan bill (S.1827) to extend CHIP’s funding is just sitting in committee while congressional leaders consider trying to once again eviscerate Medicaid and undermine consumer protections for children, this time led by Senators Cassidy, Graham, Heller, and Johnson.
This new Republican proposal includes the same devastating provisions for children that the two previous ACA repeal and replace bills contained earlier this summer.
It cuts coverage for millions of Americans and underfunds Medicaid by hundreds of billions of dollars, and allows states to end protections that ensure coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.
Currently, Medicaid covers 38 million kids.
The proposal’s most troubling aspects for children and families are the imposition of a per capita cap on Medicaid for children, people with disabilities, and senior citizens (along with an option for states to convert that to a block grant), and a full-blown conversion of Medicaid coverage for low-income adults and Obamacare tax credits into block grants to states.
At the end of the day, the Cassidy-Graham-Heller-Johnson proposal is nothing more than a cynical shuffling of federal dollars from some states to others in a somewhat desperate attempt to entice some governors and senators in so-called “winner states.”
Read More: Bruce Lesley in Medium--Another Reason to Oppose Graham-Cassidy: Hurricanes
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First Focus Campaign for Children Applauds 5-Year CHIP Extension Deal, Urges Quick Passage
WASHINGTON—The First Focus Campaign for Children strongly supports the bipartisan agreement in the Senate Finance Committee to fund a five-year extension to the popular and effective Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which covers 9 million low-income children. Funding for the program is set to expire on September 30.
First Focus Campaign for Children President Bruce Lesley said:
“We applaud Chairman Hatch and Ranking Member Wyden for making the health and well-being of America’s children a priority. Nearly 9 million kids from hardworking families who can’t afford health coverage, but earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, depend on CHIP.
Since CHIP was enacted 20 years ago, the uninsured rate for children in the US has been slashed by two-thirds. We’ve made too much progress to move backwards or put the health of millions of children at risk.
CHIP has proven to be an enormous, child-centered success story. We urge Congressional leaders to take action and pass, without delay, this proposed bipartisan five-year CHIP extension.”
Advocates Champion Bill that Closes Gap for Former Foster Youth to Access Health Insurance
Washington, DC (September 12, 2017) – Washington advocates today celebrated Senator Bob Casey’s (D-PA) introduction of the Health Insurance for Foster Youth Act (S. 1797). This bill ensures that youth who age out of foster care, or leave foster care for a kinship placement, have Medicaid coverage no matter which state they aged out in.
Currently, foster youth who age out of care are eligible for Medicaid coverage until the age of 26, mirroring the provision of the ACA that allows young adults to stay on their parent’s health insurance until they are 26. However, if a foster youth ages out of care and moves to a different state, the state they move to does not have to provide Medicaid coverage. So far, only 14 states have taken the option to cover youth who have aged out in a different state.
The Health Insurance for Former Foster Youth Act helps close this unintentional loophole that makes it more difficult for former foster youth to gain access to coverage. The bill also expands coverage for youth who left care at age 14 to be in kinship placement and requires state Medicaid programs to work with child with child welfare agencies to establish outreach and enrollment programs so more youth who are transitioning out of foster care can have health insurance.
Due to their experiences of abuse, neglect, loss, and trauma, youth who are in foster care face a number of health issues that make it vitally important for them to have access to health care. Nearly 50% suffer from chronic conditions such as asthma, cognitive abnormalities, visual, and auditory problems, dental decay and malnutrition. Over half also exhibit behavioral or social competency issues that may require mental health treatment.
Bruce Lesley, president of the First Focus Campaign for Children, praised the bill, saying, "Congress never intended to exclude Medicaid coverage for youth who moved to a different state. This is a much-needed fix that will empower former foster youth to become successful, healthy young adults and put them on equal footing with their peers.”
“A former foster youth’s ability to access healthcare coverage shouldn’t depend on their zip code,” Senator Bob Casey said. “This is a commonsense fix so that former foster youth have the same ability to access health coverage as other young Americans.”
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The First Focus Campaign for Children is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization affiliated with First Focus, a nonpartisan 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.
Senate Rejects Health Bill and Medicaid Caps and Cuts That Would Harm Kids
WASHINGTON—Back in January, the First Focus Campaign for Children (FFCC) signed a letter with other major child advocacy groups urging Congress to adopt principles to ensure any legislative process improves the health of our nation’s children and, at the very least, commits to “do no harm.”
Fortunately, at 1:39 a.m. this morning, the Senate voted 49-51 to defeat the “Health Care Freedom Act” (HCFA), an 11th hour amendment offered by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) at the close of debate. This Senate health care bill would have resulted in an estimated 16 million Americans losing health coverage and a 20 percent increase in insurance premiums.
That is the opposite of progress and, consequently, the First Focus Campaign for Children strongly opposed the bill.
It is also important to note that, even prior to the defeat of HCFA, the Senate was unable to find 50 votes to impose the hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid cuts and caps originally considered by the Senate. Medicaid per capita caps and block grants would have harmed millions of children in every single state across the country.
Bruce Lesley, President of the First Focus Campaign for Children, said:
“We are glad that, after months of debate and advocacy, the American people rose up to oppose the $880 billion in Medicaid cuts that were approved by the House. That legislative proposal, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), and numerous subsequent drafts of the bill violated the simple critical principle to ‘do no harm’ that the children’s advocacy community called for six months ago.
We thank all the members of the Senate who voted against HCFA, including Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and John McCain (R-AZ).
Moving forward, we call on Congress to heed the call of Senator McCain to go back to the drawing board, pursue regular order, engage stakeholders and experts from across the country, and work toward bipartisan solutions that improve the lives of Americans and not leave people worse off. Too many lives are at stake for Congress to consider moving forward without broad bipartisan agreement and a coherent plan.
We urge Congress to do right by the next generation. Any bill must protect the most vulnerable among us, including low-income children, newborns, foster kids, and children with complex medical conditions -- most of whom had nothing to do with Obamacare and, yet, were targeted by the House for cuts and harm.
We call on our nation’s leaders to ensure their actions or votes will improve the health and well-being of children and not make things worse. Again, at the very least, they should agree to always ‘do no harm.'"
New Bill Aims to Cut Child Poverty Rate in Half in a Decade
WASHINGTON–The Child Poverty Reduction Act (S.1630 / H.R.3381) was reintroduced today by US Sens. Bob Casey (PA), Tammy Baldwin (WI), and Sherrod Brown (OH) and US Reps. Danny K. Davis (IL-7), Barbara Lee (CA-13), Gerald E. Connolly (VA-11) and Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40). The bill creates a national target to reduce child poverty in the US by 50 percent in ten years and eliminate it entirely within 20 years.
The legislation complements efforts by leaders of the National Association of Counties (NACo) to reduce early childhood poverty.
“We need a strong federal-state-local partnership to effectively combat poverty in the United States,” said Roy Charles Brooks, Texas Commissioner of Tarrant County and incoming NACO President. “Counties invest in critical services that break cycles of poverty and help children and families thrive. We applaud this legislation as part of this effort to reduce childhood poverty by removing barriers and building opportunities for children across the country.”
During his term at the helm of NACo, Brooks said he plans to focus on addressing early childhood poverty and the county role in helping low-income families find paths to success.
A recent study conducted by the University of Maryland found overwhelming public support (59 percent of Republicans and 89 percent of Democrats) for cutting child poverty by half within a decade and to eliminate it in 20 years by establishing a federal working group, as proposed by the bill.
“We know the American people strongly support action to reduce child poverty, as it is a national crisis that threatens the well-being and future of the next generation.and requires attention at the federal, state and local levels in order to see real progress,” said Bruce Lesley, President of the First Focus Campaign for Children. “We’re proud to endorse this bill and applaud Senators Casey, Baldwin, and Brown, and Reps. Davis, Lee, Connolly and Roybal-Allard for their coordinated leadership.”
The Child Poverty Reduction Act is modeled on a successful British effort that significantly reduced child poverty. Key provisions of the US plan include:
- Setting a national target to cut child poverty in half in 10 years and end child poverty by within 20 years;
- Charging a Federal Interagency Working Group on Reducing Child Poverty with developing a plan to reach that target;
- Requiring the plan be developed in consultation with non-governmental entities providing social services to low-income children and families, advocacy groups that directly represent low-income children and families, policy experts, and officials of State, local, and tribal governments, including the working group of the largest State and local associations, who administer or direct policy for anti-poverty programs;
- Tasking the working group with monitoring progress toward the target.
In addition to First Focus Campaign for Children, more than 30 national and state organizations have also endorsed the Child Poverty Reduction Act.
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The First Focus Campaign for Children is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization affiliated with First Focus, a nonpartisan 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.
Newest DREAM Act Proposal a Promising Route to Citizenship for Undocumented Youth
(Washington D.C.) – Today Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduced the DREAM Act of 2017. The bill offers a route to permanent legal status for millions of undocumented immigrant children and families.
Bruce Lesley, President of First Focus Campaign for Children, a bipartisan children’s advocacy organization who strongly supports the Dream Act issued the following statement:
“The DREAM Act would create a way for nearly 800,000 undocumented children and adults, who came to the United States as children to pursue their educational and employment goals without threat of deportation. This bill is the strongest version of the DREAM Act yet, granting legal permanent status to individuals who arrived before their 18th birthday and who have been in the U.S. for the past 4 years.
These young people deserve permanent legal status. The United States is their home and many have no connection to the countries their families originated from. The immigration system in this country is broken and this is an important first step in ensuring that individuals who arrived in this country as children and have been in this country for years. We must ensure that these hardworking young people are given opportunities to pursue their dreams, which will only make our nation more prosperous.”
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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.
First Focus, Rep. Ellison Host Matthew Desmond to Discuss Kids & Families Facing Eviction
Dr. Matthew Desmond on Capitol Hill with First Focus (July 19, 2017)
WASHINGTON--In a briefing on Capitol Hill today sponsored by First Focus and honorary co-host Rep. Keith Ellison (MN-5), Pulitzer Prize-winning sociologist Matthew Desmond and a group of experts discussed the harmful impact of the housing crisis on children.
Each year, millions of families in the US are evicted from their homes. Families with children are evicted at much higher rates, and children who experience eviction often face high rates of mobility and unstable living environments that can have a negative impact on their education, physical health, mental health, and interpersonal relationships.
“We must address the affordable rental housing crisis by providing homes that are both safe and affordable,” said Rep. Ellison. “It is wrong to force families to choose between affordable housing or safe housing. Millions of parents and children are affected by the housing crisis – in Minnesota, more than 60% of low and middle income renters spend more than 30% of their income on rent. That’s unacceptable.”
At the briefing, First Focus Campaign for Children released 11 policy recommendations to support children and families facing eviction and boost housing stability. They include increasing the supply of affordable housing, expanding access to civil legal services, passing the Homeless Children and Youth Act (S.611/H.R.1511), and strengthening and protecting vital programs such as Medicaid, CHIP, and TANF. [See the full list].
“Interventions to support children and families who have been evicted must acknowledge all of the barriers to stability, and address both the reasons why the family was evicted as well as the trauma experienced as a result of the eviction,” said First Focus President Bruce Lesley.
During the event, Desmond shared stories from his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, which details the plight of eight households in Milwaukee caught up in the vicious cycle of eviction. To conduct the research, Desmond spent years living among Milwaukee’s low income families who struggle to afford and maintain stable housing.
Revised Senate Health Bill Would Still Harm Millions of Children
WASHINGTON—The Republicans released a revised health care bill today to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The new proposal maintains some of the ACA taxes on the wealthy, allows insurers to offer skimpier plans, and provides new financial support to buy health insurance.
First Focus President Bruce Lesley says:
“There is still not a single provision in this latest proposal that would improve the lives of children in America. Not one. And the latest version also does nothing to mitigate the harm that the legislation would have on kids. It’s time to abandon this futile exercise and strengthen--not weaken--protections for kids.
In our country, we have reached a point where 95 percent of children now have health coverage. Sadly, this bill will take us backwards through the imposition of $1 trillion or more in draconian cuts to our nation’s health care system. The cruel irony of its name – the Better Care Reconciliation Act – attempts to hide the fact that the bill would strip coverage and consumer protections from millions of children and families.
The assault on Medicaid is an historic bait-and-switch scam. Nobody who promised to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act said they would eviscerate Medicaid to the tune of more than $800 billion dollars. With more than 37 million children enrolled in Medicaid, compared to 1 million in Obamacare, this is a direct assault on children that nobody campaigned on. Sadly, the bill would impose more draconian and arbitrary cuts and per capita caps upon the Medicaid program than even the House bill, which President Trump himself referred to as ‘mean.’
There is no way to shield our nation’s most vulnerable children from Medicaid cuts of this magnitude. In fact, contrary to the President’s promise not to cut Medicaid and eliminate onerous regulations, the bill slashes Medicaid by hundreds of billions of dollars out of health coverage and gives states incentives to impose new bureaucracy and red tape barriers to coverage.
For cover, the “Better” Care draft bill attempts to include a few provisions to make the draconian bill appear less harmful to children and families. But, under scrutiny, they will do nothing to prevent the oncoming disaster this legislation would unleash."
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Trump FY 18 Budget Would Significantly Harm Children
WASHINGTON—The First Focus Campaign for Children is deeply concerned about the devastating impacts the President’s Fiscal Year 2018 (FY 18) budget would have on American children. As part of the Children’s Budget Coalition—a group of more than 50 national organizations dedicated to the well-being of children—we believe the $54 billion in cuts to non-defense discretionary programs (NDD) would devastate programs that impact children’s development and well-being, particularly in the areas of health, education, nutrition, housing and general welfare.
John Monsif, VP of Government Relations at the First Focus Campaign for Children, said:
“Congress must prevent this misguided proposal by lifting the budget caps on non-defense discretionary (NDD) appropriations and fully investing in kids. Otherwise, the slashing of funding for children’s programs will have real consequences for real people. Our children will be hungrier, sicker, and crammed into more overcrowded classrooms because of these budget cuts. Our youngest and most vulnerable members of society deserve better.”
The Children’s Budget Coalition urges Congress to take the following actions to protect children and invest in their future:
- Lift the budget caps for non-defense discretionary (NDD) spending;
- Maintain parity between non-defense and defense discretionary spending; and
- Increase allocations in the appropriations bills for programs that benefit children.
Investing in children is urgent given two worrying trends, according to the First Focus 2016 Children’s Budget Book: 1) Children’s programs accounted for a mere 2.1 percent of all new total federal spending over the previous five years, despite overall spending increasing by 7.7 percent; and 2) The share of total federal spending on children decreased 5.1 percent between 2014 and 2016.
We cannot continue down this divestment path – our children are America’s future. Now is the time for lawmakers who talk a good game about kids to step up to the plate and act to protect them and help them thrive.
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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.