Speaking of Kids...

To celebrate Mother’s Day, we’re showcasing the voices and stories of some of our moms at First Focus on Children. Host Messellech Looby shares the mic with First Focus on Children’s Vice President for Early Childhood and Public Health Policy Averi Pakulis, Vice President of Operations Trenessa Freeman, and Vice President of Advocacy and Mobilization Leila Nimatallah to chat about their experiences as moms and the policy challenges they face in their homes and on The Hill. As mothers, they grapple with the idea that their children are growing up in a society that is rolling back hard-won victories for moms and children. As policy wonks, they reflect on the important work they do to secure federal policies that support children and families and the many challenges that lie ahead. Related reading:Blog: Truly Valuing Babies, By Bruce Lesley Blog: Nearly 5 Million Children Have Lost Healthcare Due to Unwinding, by Abuko EstradaFact Sheet: Babies in the Budget, First Focus on Children To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Connect with our hosts and tell us what you would like to hear on the podcast at: Send us comments on thoughts via email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.orgFind us on Twitter/X: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_FocusWant to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. To support our work and this podcast, please consider donating to First Focus on Children here.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with Abby McCloskey, who directed the Convergence Collaborative on Supports for Working Families, a project bringing together 31 family policy leaders of diverse ideologies and included our co-host Bruce Lesley. The Convergence process issued a final report entitled In This Together: A Cross-Partisan Action Plan to Support Families with Young Children in America.McCloskey discusses some of the collaborative’s cross-partisan policy recommendations, such as creating government structures focused explicitly on children and offering 12 weeks of paid parental leave. McCloskey emphasizes that bringing these recommendations to fruition will require bipartisan effort.Today’s children are in crisis. They face rising maternal and infant mortality rates, a mental health epidemic, a public education system under attack, increasing homelessness, and other challenges. McCloskey outlines the importance of working through political polarization to create bipartisan solutions that address these and other issues affecting our nation’s children. Learn more about the need to prioritize children in policy: Article, Our kids are not OK. Neither is our child policy, Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning NewsReport: Beyond Rhetoric: A New American Agenda for Children and Families, the National Commission on Children, 1991Article, States With Abortion Bans Are Among Least Supportive for Mothers and Children, Emily Badger, Margot Sanger-Katz and Claire Cain Miller, New York TimesArticle, ‘Couples Therapy,’ but for Politics, Jessica Grose, New York TimesBe sure to check out Abby McCloskey’s website and follow her policy work on X. Want to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. To support our work and this podcast, please consider donating to First Focus on Children here.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with Representative Rosa DeLauro, a top champion for children in Congress and the chair of the babies caucus. Rep. DeLauro, who is the ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, has spent decades in Congress and consistently advocated for kids to be a priority in the federal budget. She has been a Champion for Children every year since we began publishing our legislative scorecard. Rep. DeLauro discusses the impact of the Child Tax Credit on child poverty, and says it is on the top of her agenda, along with early childhood education and the Head Start program. Rep. DeLauro tells our hosts that her main concern isn’t the opposition to policies that help children, but the indifference that many policymakers feel. Learn more about policies that help children thrive: Book, The Least Among Us: Waging the Battle for the Vulnerable, By Representative Rosa DeLauro Blog, Children at the Heart: Why Kids Deserve an Improved Child Tax Credit, By Bruce Lesley Fact Sheet, The Need for Baby Bonds in the United States, First Focus Campaign for Children Be sure to follow Representative DeLauro on X. To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Connect with our hosts and tell us what you would like to hear on the podcast at: Email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.orgTwitter: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_FocusWant to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. To support our work and this podcast, please consider donating to First Focus on Children here.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, co-founder and executive director of MomsRising, an organization that champions workforce issues facing women, mothers and families. Rowe-Finkbeiner co-founded MomsRising in 2006 after a family health crisis pushed her out of the labor force and helped her realize the challenges that American women and families face. In this episode of Speaking of Kids, Rowe-Finkbeiner discusses the policies that she advocates for in her role as the organization’s executive director, such as paid family and medical leave, affordable child care, fair pay for child care workers, and the Child Tax Credit.Learn more about policies and advocacy work that can help families thrive: Article, It's Impossible to Raise Children in the U.S. It Doesn't Have to Be | Opinion, By Kristin Rowe-FinkbeinerBook, Keep Marching: How Every Woman Can Take Action and Change Our World, By Kristin Rowe-FinkbeinerBlog, Children at the Heart: Why Kids Deserve an Improved Child Tax Credit, By Bruce Lesley To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Connect with our hosts and tell us what you would like to hear on the podcast at: Email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.orgTwitter: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_FocusWant to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. To support our work and this podcast, please consider donating to First Focus on Children here.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Check out one of our favorite episodes! Hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Professor Luke Shaefer about “Rx Kids,” their innovative program to support pregnant women and infants in Flint, Michigan. Dr. Hanna-Attisha is a pediatrician and activist best known for leading studies that exposed the deadly levels of lead in Flint’s water supply. Dr. Shaefer leads Poverty Solutions, an interdisciplinary initiative at the University of Michigan that partners with communities and policymakers to find new ways to prevent and alleviate poverty. Their conversation with our hosts centers on the importance of “Rx Kids,” which gives pregnant moms a prenatal allowance and support during the first 12 months of a child's life. By supporting families during their most vulnerable window, the program aims to address a root cause of health equity and opportunity. Read more from Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, Dr. Luke Shaefer, and about Rx Kids:Article: I Helped Expose the Lead Crisis in Flint. Here’s What Other Cities Should Do. By Mona Hanna-AttishaArticle: The Future for Flint’s Children, By Mona Hanna-AttishaArticle: I’m Sick of Asking Children to Be Resilient, By Mona Hanna-AttishaArticle: 20 Years Since Welfare 'Reform', By Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke ShaeferArticle: A Simple Approach to Ending Extreme Poverty, By H. Luke Shaefer and Kathryn J. Edin Book: What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City, By Mona Hanna-AttishaBook: $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, By Kathryn Edin and H. Luke Shaefer Article: Rx Kids launch takes place in Flint, is almost unbelievable to new Flint moms, by Tanya Article: Rx Kids program aims to tackle poverty to improve health of Flint moms and babies,MSU Today with Russ White Stay up to date with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Dr. Luke Shaefer on social media. Follow them on Twitter, @MonaHannaA and @profshaefer. Donate to RxKids on Give Directly.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with poverty experts Megan Curran and Sophie Collyer about the Child Tax Credit. As top researchers at Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy, Collyer and Curran produce groundbreaking work on poverty and the child tax credit. In this episode, they explain why the U.S. needs the Child Tax Credit and help unpack the economic contradictions that place a burden on families. They also discuss the fact that child poverty is a policy decision and explain why lawmakers continually interpret “child-focused” policies around the perceived deservedness of adults. Learn more about child poverty and the child tax credit:Report: A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty, By The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Policy Brief: The Promise of Universal Child Benefits: the Foundational Policy for Economic and Social Development, By The International Labour Organization (ILO) with UNICEF and the Learning for Well-Being Institute and featuring two CPSP co-authors, Megan Curran and David Harris Policy Brief: Children Left Behind by the Child Tax Credit in 2022, By Sophie Collyer Megan Curran, David Harris, and Christopher Wimer. Blog, The Child Tax Credit: Boosting the Lives and Well-Being of Our Children, By Bruce Lesley Be sure to check out the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University and follow them on twitter. To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Connect with our hosts and tell us what you would like to hear on the podcast at: Email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.orgTwitter: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_FocusWant to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. To support our work and this podcast, please consider donating to First Focus on Children here.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with Representative Suzanne Bonamici. Rep. Bonamici, who has represented Oregon’s 1st district in Congress since 2012, has been an avid Champion for children throughout her career and achieved the #1 slot on First Focus Campaign for Children’s 2023 Legislative Scorecard. The Congresswoman discusses her legislative priorities, including passing the Child Tax Credit, advocating for a strong public education system, ending child hunger, supporting youth experiencing homelessness, and protecting food programs such as SNAP and WIC. She talks about her belief that funding the health, well-being, and safety of children is the best investment our society can make, and offers advice for listeners on how to affect change themselves. Learn more about Rep. Bonamici’s work supporting kids:Blog: Unveiling the 2023 Champions and Defenders of Children: Who Commits to Kids?, By Bruce Lesley Blog: Recognizing Children in the Debate Over Education and Schools, By Bruce Lesley Article: The First Five Things to Know About: Representative Suzanne Bonamici, By The First Five Years FundBe sure to check out Representative Bonamici’s website and follow her on Instagram and Twitter. To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Connect with our hosts and tell us what you would like to hear on the podcast at: Email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.orgTwitter: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_FocusWant to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. To support our work and this podcast, please consider donating to First Focus on Children here.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Professor Luke Shaefer about “Rx Kids,” their innovative program to support pregnant women and infants in Flint, Michigan. Dr. Hanna-Attisha is a pediatrician and activist  best known for leading studies that exposed  the deadly levels of lead in Flint’s water supply.  Dr. Shaefer leads Poverty Solutions, an interdisciplinary initiative at the University of Michigan that partners with communities and policymakers to find new ways to prevent and alleviate poverty.  Their conversation with our hosts centers on the importance of  “Rx Kids,” which gives pregnant moms a prenatal allowance and support during the first 12 months of a child's life. By supporting families during their most vulnerable window, the program aims to address a root cause of health equity and opportunity. Read more from Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, Dr. Luke Shaefer, and about Rx Kids: Article: I Helped Expose the Lead Crisis in Flint. Here’s What Other Cities Should Do. By Mona Hanna-AttishaArticle: The Future for Flint’s Children, By Mona Hanna-AttishaArticle: I’m Sick of Asking Children to Be Resilient, By Mona Hanna-AttishaArticle: 20 Years Since Welfare 'Reform', By Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke ShaeferArticle: A Simple Approach to Ending Extreme Poverty, By H. Luke Shaefer and Kathryn J. Edin Book: What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City, By Mona Hanna-AttishaBook: $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, By Kathryn Edin and H. Luke Shaefer Article: Rx Kids launch takes place in Flint, is almost unbelievable to new Flint moms, by Tanya Article: Rx Kids program aims to tackle poverty to improve health of Flint moms and babies,MSU Today with Russ White Stay up to date with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Dr. Luke Shaefer on social media. Follow them on Twitter, @MonaHannaA and @profshaefer. Donate to RxKids on Give Directly.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with pediatrician and former congressional candidate Dr. Annie Andrews and political strategist Renee Harvey about their new political action committee (PAC) for children, Their Future. Our Vote. Dr. Andrews, a children’s hospital doctor, highlighted the invisibility of children in policymaking during her recent run for Congress. When the race didn’t end the way they’d hoped, Harvey and Dr. Andrews created the PAC to offer financial support to urgently needed kid-first policies, such as improving the Child Tax Credit, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and child care while also opposing efforts to ban books in our public schools and libraries.Learn more about the political and policy challenges faced by children: Blog: The Invisibility of Children: The Other Form of Neglect, by Bruce LesleyArticle: ​​Pediatrician launches new PAC focused on children, by Daniela AltimariStay up to date Dr. Annie Andrews and Renee Harvey on social media. Be sure to check out their PAC website and follow them on Twitter, @HReneeHarvey, @annieandrewsmd, and @Their__Future. To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Connect with our hosts and tell us what you would like to hear on the podcast at: Email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.orgTwitter: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_FocusAnd please rate and review this podcast and share it with friends and family.Want to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. Connect with First Focus Campaign for Children for easy training on how to be a powerful advocate for children. Please consider donating to First Focus on Children to support our work and this podcast here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby speak with Nell Menefee-Libey, public policy manager for the National WIC Association. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, better known as WIC, supports healthy pregnancy, healthy postpartum recovery and optimal child development. The National WIC Association represents state and local WIC agency staff across more than 12,000 direct service sites and the nearly 7 million participants served by WIC. The program has led to significant measurable improvements in cognitive development scores, obesity rates, overall quality of diet and other outcomes. WIC has traditionally enjoyed strong bipartisan support, but for the first time in this millennium, Congress is threatening to turn its back on the families who rely on the program. The House and Senate are currently considering appropriations bills that underfund the program and that inflict major cuts on fruit and vegetable allowances. Learn more about the importance of funding WIC: Blog: New data shows WIC reached only 50% of eligible moms & children, By Abbie Malloy Article: Millions of American families struggle to get food on the table, report finds, By Maria Godoy To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Connect with our hosts and tell us what you would like to hear on the podcast at: Email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.orgTwitter: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_FocusAnd please rate and review this podcast and share it with friends and family.Want to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. Connect with First Focus Campaign for Children for easy training on how to be a powerful advocate for children. Please consider donating to First Focus on Children here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby speak with leading children’s rights expert Jonathan Todres. Todres, a professor at Georgia University College of Law, says rejecting children's rights is an attack on human rights. He explains the divisiveness around children's rights as the result of pitting them against parental rights and notes that they are, instead, a critical tool for parents. Diving deep into important policy debates, Todres considers why the United States is the only country that has not ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and emphasizes the urgent need for society to address issues like child housing insecurity, the youth mental health crisis, and lack of child participation in the government. Learn more about child rights: Book: The Oxford Handbook of Children's Rights Law, Edited by Jonathan Todres and Shani M. KingBook: Human Rights in Children's Literature: Imagination and the Narrative of Law, By Jonathan Todres Webpage: Child Rights, First Focus on Children To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Connect with our hosts and tell us what you would like to hear on the podcast at: Email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.orgTwitter: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_FocusAnd please rate and review this podcast and share it with friends and family.Want to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. Connect with First Focus Campaign for Children for easy training on how to be a powerful advocate for children. Please consider donating to First Focus on Children here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby welcome Dr. C. Kirabo Jackson, a researcher, professor, journal editor, and member of President Biden’s Council of Economic Advisors. Dr. Jackson discusses his findings that research with respect to investing in both early childhood and K-12 education consistently demonstrates a high return on investment, particularly for low-income children, and sets future generations on a path to greater success. Dr. Jackson also discusses the role that investments in education can play in reducing disparities in educational outcomes and the well-being of children in both the short- and long-term.Learn more about the crucial need to invest in our future generations: Academic Journal: “Do School Spending Cuts Matter? Evidence from The Great Recession”, By C. Kirabo Jackson, Cora Wigger & Heyu XiongBlog: “Money Does Matter After All”, By C. Kirabo Jackson, Cora Wigger & Heyu XiongBlog: “Congress is Shortchanging Children,” By Bruce LesleyTo join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Connect with our hosts and tell us what you would like to hear on the podcast at: Email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.orgTwitter: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_FocusAnd please rate and review this podcast and share it with friends and family.Want to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. Connect with First Focus Campaign for Children for easy training on how to be a powerful advocate for children. Please consider donating to First Focus on Children here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with children’s activist Arnold “Arnie” Fege about the importance of defending public education against attacks both past and present. As a longtime teacher, principal, superintendent and now president of Public Advocacy for Kids (PAK), a national organization devoted to education and child advocacy, Arne brings a thorough perspective to education policy and practice. Arne champions parental engagement, but challenges the motives of so-called “parental rights” groups who want to privatize public education, ban books, and minimize the voices of LGBTQ+ students and students of color. Arnie, who worked with Robert F. Kennedy and served as school desegregation director in Michigan, traces the roots of this movement all the way back to Brown v. Board of Education and efforts to maintain racial segregation in schools.Learn more about the far-right’s attempts to dismantle public education:Newsletter: The Alliance for Student Liberty, By Lily Klam Blog: Why Education Is a Children’s Issue and a Matter of Child Rights, By Bruce Lesley Publication: Children’s Budget 2023 by First Focus on ChildrenBe sure to check out Arnold Fege’s publications and follow him on Twitter. To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Connect with our hosts and tell us what you would like to hear on the podcast at: Email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.orgTwitter: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_Focus Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with law professor Adam Benforado about the lack of attention paid to children in the policymaking process. Benforado, who focuses on criminal justice and children’s rights, argues that many of the societal problems we see all around us - incarceration, homelessness — are prevented most effectively by investing in our children. For the U.S. to remain competitive and produce healthy, happy, and thriving adults, Benforado believes we must prioritize the well-being of our youth. Benforado explains that American society has gone backwards on children’s rights. We haven’t made the same progress as our peer nations on leading causes of childhood death, like gun and automobile safety, which jeopardizes the well-being and security of our youth as well as our nation. Learn more about children's rights: Book: A Minor Revolution: How Prioritizing Kids Benefits Us All, By Adam Benforado Book Review: A Minor Revolution Proposes Improving the Rights of Children By Bruce LesleyArticle: 'Two Little Texans' in Thick of Textbook Battle for Young Minds, By Dan Balz Be sure to check out Adam Benferado’s website and follow on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Connect with our hosts and tell us what you would like to hear on the podcast at: Email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.orgTwitter: @SpeakingOfKids @BruceLesley and @First_Focus And please rate and review this podcast and share it with friends and family.Want to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. Connect with First Focus Campaign for Children for easy training on how to be a powerful advocate for children. Please consider donating to First Focus on Children here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, our hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby chat with pollster and political strategist Celinda Lake. Lake is President and Founder of Lake Research Partners, a national public opinion and political strategy research firm.Lake walks our hosts through public polling that shows voters strongly favor investing in children and centering them in public policy. The data contradicts lawmakers’ inclination to treat children’s issues as an afterthought.  Lake outlines the unique challenges facing child advocates and ways to increase public attention to the needs of children and families.To see the full results of the Lake Research Partners poll for First Focus on Children, go to https://firstfocus.org/blog/fact-sheet-voters-support-investments-in-kids. As a pollster, Lake hears every variety of opinion on contentious political issues. Yet, she’s found that Americans are more united than they seem and she’s passionate about using that information to fight the rising problem of political polarization. Be sure to check out Lake Research Partners and follow on Twitter at @celindalake and @lake_research. Lake's recent book with Ed Goaes, A Question of Respect, can be found at https://www.amazon.com/Question-RESPECT-Bringing-Together-Divided/dp/1636980406/. To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Connect with our hosts and tell us what you would like to hear on the podcast at: Email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.orgTwitter: @SpeakingOfKids @BruceLesley and @First_Focus And please rate and review this podcast and share it with friends and family.Want to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. Connect with First Focus Campaign for Children for easy training on how to be a powerful advocate for children. Please consider donating to First Focus on Children here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this introductory episode of Speaking of Kids, co-hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech “Selley” Looby discuss the fact that children are often an afterthought in public policy. While most people care deeply about the children in their lives, there is a clear disconnect between personal opinions and policy goals. Children can’t vote, they don’t have political action committees, and they don’t have paid lobbyists. They are in dire need of strong advocates, which is why Speaking of Kids will highlight the most urgent issues facing children at home and abroad, and will prepare the public to advocate for them. In this episode, Bruce, Selley and First Focus on Children Vice President of Advocacy and Mobilization Leila Nimatallah share what drew them to child advocacy and offer takeaways from their career experiences.Join the conversation. Follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Connect with our hosts and tell us what you would like to hear on the podcast at:Email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.orgTwitter: @BruceLesley and @First_FocusAnd please rate and review this podcast and share it with friends and family.Want to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. Connect with First Focus Campaign for Children for easy training on how to be a powerful advocate for children. Please consider donating to First Focus on Children here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.