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


Homeless youth bill would improve access to services and advance equity

| 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

| 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

| 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

| 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

| 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)

| 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

| 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


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