Cara Baldari Senior Policy Director, Poverty & Family Economics, Housing and Homelessness

Cara Baldari is the Vice President of Family Economics, Housing and Homelessness at First Focus on Children. In this role, she leads the U.S. Child Poverty Action Group, of which First Focus is a founding member.

Her work centers on building the political will for a national commitment to reduce child poverty in the United States. In 2016, she helped to secure federal appropriations funding for a landmark consensus study from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty, released in February 2019.

Through her work, she advocates on a cross-sector set of policies to address child poverty and homelessness, including cash assistance, income supports, hunger and nutrition programs, homelessness assistance, and more.

Cara received a Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh.

Resources by Cara Baldari


Letter: Pass the Child Poverty Reduction Act

| March 14, 2022 |

Today, the U.S. Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and First Focus Campaign for Children sent a letter to Congress signed by over 100 organizations


Fact Sheet: Child Poverty in the Wake of COVID-19

| November 23, 2021 |

On September 14, 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau released national child poverty estimates for 2020, including both the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) and the


Policy Brief: Child, Youth, and Family Homelessness in the United States: Undercounted & Misunderstood

| November 22, 2021 |

For the past year, 14-year-old Kyah has slept on the floor of a relative’s house, living out of a single room with her mother


Letter: In Support of the Child Poverty Reduction Act (S. 4115/H.R. 7419)

| November 19, 2020 |

On November 19, 2020, the U.S. Child Poverty Action Group and First Focus Campaign for Children sent a letter to Congress signed by over


Key Stats on the Effect of COVID-19 on Kids

| October 12, 2020 |

Updated on October 12, 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic is doing more than exposing the racial, ethnic, and economic disparities existing in our society; it


Congress Must Act Quickly to Pass Additional Relief for Struggling Children and Families

| August 10, 2020 |

Given recent spikes in COVID-19 caseloads, an economic crisis that continues to deepen, and an upcoming school year faced with daunting challenges, it is


Letter: We must ensure that this historic public health pandemic does not threaten our children’s future

| August 10, 2020 |

First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to Congressional leaders in both houses with a set of recommendations to address the needs


Letter: Include the Pandemic TANF Assistance Act in the next COVID-19 relief package

| July 21, 2020 |

First Focus Campaign for Children, along with the Children’s Defense Fund and the Coalition on Human Needs, sent the following letter signed by 170


How to protect children experiencing hunger & homelessness in the wake of COVID-19

| May 4, 2020 |

Every facet of the lives of children and families are being disrupted during this historic public health and economic crisis. Unfortunately, both their short-term


How to protect the children of immigrants in the wake of COVID-19

| May 4, 2020 |

Every facet of the lives of children and families are being disrupted during this historic public health and economic crisis. Unfortunately, both their short-term