First Focus on Children

First Focus on Children A bipartisan advocacy organization committed to making children and families a priority in federal policy and budget decisions. Learn more: www.firstfocus.org

First Focus is a bipartisan advocacy organization dedicated to making children and families a priority in federal policy and budget decisions. Children’s health, education, family economics, child welfare, and child safety are the five core issue areas around which First Focus is working to promote bipartisan policy solutions. While not the only organization working to improve public policies that

impact kids, First Focus approaches children’s advocacy in a unique way. Key components include:

Bipartisanship: First Focus bridges the partisan divide to make kids the policymaking focus. This commitment is reflected in First Focus’s advisory board and leadership team, research partners, and its drive to find bipartisan policy solutions that benefit children and families. New Partnerships: First Focus is working to bring leaders in child advocacy together with groups not traditionally engaged in policy efforts relating to children and families – including prominent private sector partners. Research for Results: First Focus engages a new generation of academic experts to examine issues affecting children from multiple points of view in an effort to create innovative policy proposals. Engaging State Leaders: First Focus convenes cross-sector leaders in key states to influence federal policy and budget debates, and to advocate for federal policies that will ensure a brighter future for the next generation of America’s leaders.

06/10/2026

Students are more comfortable typing than talking. Tracy Rosser explains how that shift is changing how kids connect in real life. 📲👀⁠
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Listen to understand what’s being lost when conversation moves behind screens. 🎧⁠
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06/09/2026

A Supreme Court decision expected before the end of the session could have lasting consequences for children nationwide. 🏛️

Our President, Bruce Lesley, spoke with ABC News about why ending birthright citizenship would create new barriers to essential services and opportunities for children.

Citizenship is more than paperwork—it’s the foundation for a child’s health, safety, and future.

06/06/2026

Elizabeth Stagis reflects on how TikTok has become the dominant culture driver for teenagers, shaping what they watch, value, and engage with through short-form video. 📱 ⁠
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What do you think kids are missing as shared cultural experiences shift this dramatically? 🤔⁠
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06/03/2026

This week on Speaking of Kids, educators Rebekah, Elizabeth Stagis, and Tracy Rosser join Selley to discuss the realities kids are facing both inside and outside the classroom. 🍎⁠
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In this clip, Rebekah opens up about the emotional and social changes that make the middle school years so complex. 🧠💬⁠
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Listen to understand what students are really processing during this stage of development. 🎧⁠
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Congress once helped cut child poverty to a historic low. Since then, child poverty has more than doubled after key supp...
05/31/2026

Congress once helped cut child poverty to a historic low. Since then, child poverty has more than doubled after key supports for families expired.
In his new Substack, Bruce Lesley explains why child poverty is not inevitable — and how lawmakers, states, and communities are pushing for solutions that invest directly in children and families.
Read more:

How bipartisan legislation, state action, Rx Kids, and The Bridge Project, are building the case for federal action to scale success.

Children are not property — they are people with rights and needs of their own.In his new Substack, Bruce Lesley examine...
05/29/2026

Children are not property — they are people with rights and needs of their own.
In his new Substack, Bruce Lesley examines the rise of the “parental rights” movement and why protecting children also means investing in the schools, health care, and support systems families rely on.
Read more:

“The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality.” – James Baldwin

In honors of Mother's Day, Bruce Lesley writes about his mother’s lifelong advocacy for children and how her values stil...
05/13/2026

In honors of Mother's Day, Bruce Lesley writes about his mother’s lifelong advocacy for children and how her values still shape his work today.

The piece explores what families actually need — and why children so often become an afterthought in policy debates.

Read more:

What mothers are actually fighting for.

What happens to children when Congress stops working effectively?In a recent Substack, President of First Focus on Child...
05/13/2026

What happens to children when Congress stops working effectively?

In a recent Substack, President of First Focus on Children, Bruce Lesley, explains how dysfunction in Congress affects kids and outlines reforms that could help bring children’s issues back into focus.

Read more:

Here are a dozen reforms that would, at the very least, improve things for our kids.

05/12/2026

Child advocacy is not about speaking for kids, it’s about making space to hear them.

First Focus Campaign for Children Fellow, Margot Cornelius, shares the importance of giving children opportunities to share their thoughts, ideas, and solutions. As advocates, our role is to listen, amplify, and ensure their voices help shape the decisions that affect their lives.

05/10/2026

This Mother’s Day, we’re honoring motherhood and the advocacy it inspires 💙⁠
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First Focus Campaign for Children Fellow and Director of , Erin Hogeboom, shares how her mom’s dedication and sacrifice inspired the advocacy work she does today—and why policies that uplift children and families matter so deeply.⁠
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Address

1400 Eye Street NW, Suite 650
Washington D.C., DC
20005

Telephone

+12026570684

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