Housing & Homelessness

More than one million K-12 students in America are homeless today. Whether that means sleeping in a shelter or crashing on a family friend’s couch, homelessness has disastrous consequences for every aspect of a child’s life – health, nutrition, education. In fact, every time a child is forced to move, it has the same impact on educational progress as missing a month of school. But federal agencies don’t even have a uniform definition of “homeless” for children. First Focus advocates an honest assessment of the family homelessness problem in America and a renewed federal commitment to ensure that no American spends his or her childhood homeless.
Resources
Letter of Support: Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act of 2023
| August 2, 2023 |
Today, First Focus Campaign for Children sent a letter to Senators Chris Van Hollen and Todd Young and Representatives Joe Neguse and Brian Fitzpatrick, …
Homeless youth bill would improve access to services and advance equity
Michele Kayal | December 16, 2021 |
First Focus Campaign for Children, SchoolHouse Connection, National Network for Youth, Family Promise, and Covenant House International applaud the introduction of the bipartisan Homeless …
Policy Brief: Child, Youth, and Family Homelessness in the United States: Undercounted & Misunderstood
Cara Baldari, Micaela McConnell (Former Staff) | 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 …
Fact Sheet: LIFT the BAR Act
Aileen Wang, Madalyn News | September 9, 2021 |
Children of immigrants and immigrant children make up one-quarter of all U.S. kids and represent the fastest-growing group of children in America. Despite this, …
The Promises We Must Make to Our Children: Recommendations to the Biden-Harris Transition Team
| January 4, 2021 |
The kids are not alright. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession, we were failing our kids on a whole range of domestic …
Letter: Urgent request to extend 2020 Census deadline
Bruce Lesley | October 15, 2020 |
First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to Senate leadership with an urgent request to include extended deadlines for 2020 Census processing …
Key Stats on the Effect of COVID-19 on Kids
Aubrey Edwards-Luce, Averi Pakulis, Cara Baldari, Carrie Fitzgerald, Christopher Towner, Conor Sasner, Kathy Sacco, Michelle Dallafior, Miriam Abaya, Olivia Gomez | 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 …
Letter: In support of the Legal Assistance to Prevent Evictions Act (S. 3305|H.R. 5884)
Bruce Lesley | September 23, 2020 |
First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to the lead sponsors of the Legal Assistance to Prevent Evictions Act (S. 3305|H.R. 5884), …
Congress Must Act Quickly to Pass Additional Relief for Struggling Children and Families
Aubrey Edwards-Luce, Averi Pakulis, Bruce Lesley, Cara Baldari, Carrie Fitzgerald, Christopher Towner, Conor Sasner, Michelle Dallafior, Olivia Gomez | 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
Aubrey Edwards-Luce, Averi Pakulis, Bruce Lesley, Cara Baldari, Carrie Fitzgerald, Christopher Towner, Conor Sasner, Michelle Dallafior, Olivia Gomez | 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 …