First Focus Campaign for Children submitted the following testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions out of deep concern with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent economic crisis on the lives of children.

Excerpt:

The COVID-19 pandemic is doing more than exposing the racial, ethnic, and economic disparities existing in our society; it is compounding them. This demands that we employ a robust, near- and long-term approach to manage this unprecedented dual public health and economic crisis. The pandemic and resulting economic crisis are falling hardest on the most vulnerable among us, including our children. These crises are disrupting every facet of children’s lives, and we cannot yet know all of the negative and long-lasting implications they will have on children’s healthy development and future success.

Read Full Testimony Here.