Press Release: 2021 Children’s Budget shows largest year-to-year increase in the share of federal spending on kids

Sec. Xavier Becerra today reiterated the Biden Administration’s commitment to children, pointing to investments in child care, income supports, and the physical and behavioral health of the nation’s children.

“At the end of the day we know what it means to make a difference in the lives of American families,” the Health and Human Services Secretary said in live remarks to the 2021 Children’s Budget Summit. “And we start at the beginning: With the lives of our kids.”

Becerra also highlighted yesterday’s approval by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in children ages 5 to 11, noting that “15 million vaccines are going out now even as we speak.”

First Focus on Children’s 2021 Children’s Budget Summit gathered policymakers, experts, and advocates to analyze findings of the 2021 Children’s Budget and its implications for U.S. policy.

This year’s Children’s Budget, the 15th edition, finds that COVID funding fueled the largest year-to-year increase in the share of federal spending on kids since tracking began in 2006.

The share of federal spending on children rose to 11.2% in 2021, a 3.5 percentage point increase over 2020. The historic increase comes after four straight years in which the share of spending on children declined by 25% to just 7.6%. Internationally, the United States invests just .08% — less than one penny per federal dollar spent — in children abroad.

“The pandemic and its economic fallout revealed decades of delayed maintenance on the systems that protect the health and well-being of our children,” said First Focus on Children President Bruce Lesley. “Massive investments in early childhood funding, income supports, education, and food programs merely stabilized our kids. And yet, some in Congress are working to reverse even these gains.”

Summit guests echoed the need for continued investment in our nation’s children. 

Calling children “our greatest natural resource,” Sen. Cory Booker, D-NJ, urged reform of the “unfair tax code” that shortchanges children and pledged continued efforts to eradicate child poverty. “It is nothing short of a moral crisis, and a moral urgency, that we have a nation that’s the wealthiest on the planet, but that we fall behind our peer nations in investing in our kids,” he said.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-WA, called attention to the systemic inequities revealed by the pandemic and stressed that the country cannot “just go back to normal.” She emphasized the need for Congress to deliver “affordable, quality child care, national comprehensive paid leave, and a permanent expanded Child Tax Credit.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-MD, called on Congress to pass universal pre-k, more affordable child care, and continued monthly payments to families under the improved Child Tax Credit. “Investing in children is about investing in the future success of our country,” he said. Van Hollen has sponsored two bills designed to increase transparency around investments in children by requiring annual reports on the actual federal investment in children’s programs.

Well before she became chair of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-CT, had waged a battle to make permanent improvements to the Child Tax Credit. Since July, families have received monthly payments of up to $300 per child, significantly blunting the impact of the pandemic’s economic fallout. “[Families] have used these monthly checks for child care, food, diapers, school expenses, braces, and maybe even swimming lessons,” she said. “Families are relying on the Child Tax Credit, and it is imperative that we do everything we can to lock it in for years and years to come.”

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-CA, also emphasized the poverty-reducing power of the Child Tax Credit and called for the establishment of a Children’s Interagency Coordinating Council at the Department of Health and Human Services in this year’s federal budget. “This council is essential to support the effective implementation of the Child Tax Credit and other child poverty-reducing investments,” she said. “Our goals will not be reached until we eradicate child poverty once and for all.”

Internationally, advocates and Administration officials called for whole-of-government leadership on U.S. funding for children globally and for close tracking of this assistance. “By tracking foreign assistance spending, the U.S. government, its partners, stakeholders, and the public can better understand which countries and sectors are recipients of foreign assistance, reduce overlap, collaborate more effectively and work more cohesively to tackle today’s most pressing global challenges, such as the hardships experienced by children and their loved ones,” said Michele Sumilas, assistant to the Administrator in the Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning (PPL) at USAID, which leads implementation of the new Global Child Thrive Act, which requires U.S. government policy to support early childhood development in relevant foreign assistance programs.

The 2021 Children’s Budget tracks domestic and international spending on children, including both mandatory and discretionary funding across twelve federal departments and numerous agencies and bureaus. This is the second year the book tracks international resources supporting kids, and this year newly captures pandemic aid and adds three refundable tax credits for the first time: the Child Tax Credit, the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, and the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The report is made possible by the generous support of the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, Oak Foundation, GHR Foundation, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. First Focus on Children also receives critical support on behalf of children from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

Watch the full livestream

What the Next Administration Might Spend on Children

Christopher Towner, Senior Director, Budget and Data Analytics, First Focus

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With the election fast approaching, we analyzed the established track records of each candidate’s spending on children. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence produced a budget as recently as February for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, and former Vice President Joe Biden was part of the Obama-Biden Administration’s budget for FY 2017. Both of these documents offer a window into what we can expect for children when either starts his presidential term on January 20, 2021.

Children’s Budget 2020 offers a deep dive into how the Trump-Pence FY 2021 budget would affect kids. We found that were his policies to be enacted, the share of federal spending on children would drop about 2% lower than kid’s spending in FY 2020, which was 7.48% of the budget, to 7.32% (adjusted for comparison, the share would be about 7.31%). President Trump’s policies would cut spending for kids by an inflation-adjusted $21 billion, which is the result of eliminating or consolidating into block grants 59 children’s programs in addition to general cuts to other programs.

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Although Vice President Biden has not been in the position to produce his own budget, he was a member of the Obama-Biden Administration, so it is informative to take a look at President Obama’s last budget request in FY 2017. We did a deeper breakdown of that budget in Children’s Budget 2016, in which we found President Obama’s FY 2017 budget would spend 8.11% of the budget on children. However, a lot has changed in the past four years: we have much more data about how federal dollars are spent, we’ve seen programs come and go, and we’ve seen changing demographics increase spending on some programs while decreasing it on others.

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Combining the spending estimates from Children’s Budget 2016 with the more recent data we have in Children’s Budget 2020, we adjusted both estimates to reflect an apples-to-apples comparison. The result: the Trump-Pence FY 2021 budget allocated 7.31% of federal spending toward children, while the Obama-Biden FY 2017 budget allocated 8.30% of federal spending toward children.

The 8.30% in the Obama-Biden FY 2017 budget reflected an increase in the share of children’s spending of 1.3% between FY 2016 and FY 2017, or 0.21 percentage points. In inflation-adjusted dollars, the Obama-Biden FY 2017 budget increased children’s spending by nearly $24 billion. The increase was fueled by 16 new programs proposed in the budget, slightly offset by a few programs being consolidated or eliminated.

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While a roughly 1 percentage point difference doesn’t seem huge, it actually adds up pretty quickly when you’re talking about a $4.7 trillion budget. If President Trump had mirrored President Obama’s budget, children would have received an additional $46 billion in the FY 2021 budget request.

It’s important to note that Vice President Biden may not emulate his old boss, and if he’s elected, we’ll see what happens in his FY 2022 budget. That being said, this comparison does give both candidates a goal to work toward. President Obama demonstrated how to increase, rather than decrease, the share of federal spending toward kids in his FY 2017 budget.

Both President Trump and Vice President Biden should live up to the standard set in FY 2017 and propose policies that return the children’s share of federal spending to at least the level requested by President Obama then – an 8.30% share. Ideally, though, the next president will request an even greater share of spending to address the unmet needs of today’s children, especially in light of the COVID-19 crisis.

The next president’s budget must reverse the trend of children’s funding and set the children’s share of federal spending on an increasing, not decreasing, trajectory.

The Next Presidential Agenda Should Invest in Kids – At Home and Abroad

Christopher Towner, Senior Director, Budget and Data Analytics, First Focus

Former Obama White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Jason Furman recently published a “Memorandum on Priorities for Economic Policy” addressed to the next Director of the National Economic Council (NEC) – whoever that may be under President Trump or a President Biden.

In the memorandum, published as part of a series by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, Furman writes that one of the NEC Director’s “key priorities” must be “Making the US economy work for families,” writing:

“Making the US economy work for families is critical in its own right and also to give Americans the security and confidence to participate in greater global integration and a greater US role in the world. Many elements go into this, but if you had to prioritize one, it should be investments in children, which not only provide direct assistance today but have long-run benefits in the form of increased work, higher earnings, better health, and less imprisonment.”

Furman is right – investing in kids pays dividends not only in the short term, with healthy and happier families, but in the long term, with improved potential on many different fronts that would boost the economy. Since Fiscal Year (FY) 2016, the children’s share of federal spending has dropped 9%, reaching just 7.48%of the budget in FY 2020. This level was inadequate before the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is woefully inadequate in light of it.

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Furman also stressed the need to invest in children internationally, noting:

“The 2014 G20 included a goal of increasing women’s labor force participation; consider whether a similar goal of investing in children would make sense for the G20 going forward.”

A G20 commitment to this effort would help put children’s issues front and center on the global stage; in Children’s Budget 2020, we estimate that just 0.08% of federal spending goes toward helping children abroad. That’s about one-twelfth of what we spend on foreign aid as a whole, which is a mere 1 percent of the federal budget.

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It’s well past time that lawmakers get serious about investing in the next generation. Following Furman’s advice would be a welcome step in the next presidential agenda.

A big chance for Congress to put kids first

Michelle Dallafior, Senior Vice President of Budget and Tax Policy, First Focus

As Congress and the White House teeter on the edge of compromise for an overdue, additional emergency relief package, the coronavirus has claimed over 220,000 lives and left jobless numbers hovering around 12 million, well above their pre-pandemic levels. But as Caitlin Emma points out in Politico, the relief package is just part of an enormous budget agenda facing Congress. She writes:

“Congress is already heading into a big budget year, regardless of the outcome on Election Day. After a decade of enduring strict budget caps and operating under the threat of automatic spending cuts, lawmakers face no overall limits on defense and non-defense discretionary spending for fiscal 2022. Washington will also have to again grapple with raising the debt limit on federal borrowing next summer in order to stave off calamity.”

This “new budget territory,” as Emma calls it, offers a rare opportunity to prioritize children. For example, the temporary continuing resolution (CR) funding the federal government expires on December 11, 2020, and action will be required to avoid a government shutdown. The election outcome likely will have a huge impact on how long Congress extends the CR deadline into next year or if it tackles some appropriations bills sooner, such as the Labor-HHS-Education bill, which provides more than 70% of annual spending for children’s programs and services.

As Emma points out, FY2022 offers a clean slate as the spending limits set out by the 2011 Budget Control Act sunset after FY2021. Depending on the election results, Congress also may decide to use a reconciliation package — which requires a simple majority vote for passage — to pursue policy priorities such as health care, climate change, and infrastructure improvements, and of course, to revisit the lopsided provisions in the 2017 tax law, which favor the wealthy. The Republican majority used the reconciliation process to usher through the tax legislation. Democrats used it to pass the Affordable Care Act.

On top of all this, Congress will need to address the debt ceiling limit before its expiration next July and may even consider eliminating it at a time when budget hawks will be calling for austerity measures. All of these decisions could profoundly impact the well-being of our children as the dual public health and economic crises intensify their needs and compound existing disparities in our society.

Even before the pandemic, children regularly fell into the shadows during budget negotiations. On September 30, 2020, we released the 14th edition of our Children’s Budget book, presenting our analysis of more than 200 federally supported programs dedicated in part or entirely to children. Unfortunately, our analysis identifies a persistent and alarming trend: Children continue to receive a smaller and smaller share of federal spending.

In 2020, the share of federal spending on children hit just 7.48% — a decline of 9% from its FY2016 levels. For the record, children make up roughly one-quarter of our population. Under the president’s FY2021 request, investment in our children would drop to just 7.32% as it proposed harmful cuts and recommended eliminating or consolidating into block grants 59 different programs benefitting children.

Our investment in children overseas is not doing any better. The Children’s Budget 2020 marks the first time that we at First Focus on Children have analyzed federal spending on children from the international affairs budget, which spans seven entities including the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Our research finds that the dollars dedicated to aiding children globally reflects far less than 1% of our spending — a dismal 0.11 percent of the overall federal budget.

There are two legislative proposals introduced in the U.S. Senate sponsored by Senators Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to help bring greater transparency to Congressional budget decisions. The Focus on Children Act (S.1780) and the Congressional Budget Act (S.1776) would authorize the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget, respectively, to regularly conduct a clear and full accounting of federal spending on children’s programs and services. These complementary bills would help policymakers and the public better understand and accurately evaluate how children are faring in critical, federal budget decisions.

So, as Congress and the president negotiate critically important budget decisions in the coming days, weeks, and months, we urge them to place children front and center to ensure kids are not left further behind. Our future depends on our children and budget decisions expose our leaders’ priorities for that future.

“We have a real opportunity to infuse equity and justice throughout our budget process,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) told Emma.

Let’s remember that this election season. Put kids first.

2020 Children’s Budget Summit: Lawmakers and educators discuss continued decline in children’s share of federal spending

This year has delivered an unprecedented public health emergency and an economic crisis that has disrupted every facet of the lives of children and families. More than ever before, the importance of prioritizing children in federal budget decisions has become crystal clear.

At today’s first virtual Children’s Budget Summit, First Focus on Children assembles frontline educators and a bipartisan slate of Congressional leaders to discuss the findings of our 2020 Children’s Budget book. The book, released today, tracks federal investments in more than 200 domestic programs aimed at children, and, for the first time, includes an analysis of U.S. spending on children internationally.

Top takeways: The share of U.S. federal spending on children has hit its lowest level in five years.  Even before COVID-19:

  • 1 in 5 children in foster care will become instantly homeless upon aging out of the system.

  • 89% of children eligible for Early Head Start do not have access to it.

  • 15% of U.S. households with school-age children do not have access to high-speed internet at home.

  • 2.2 million children were affected by parental opioid use or their own use in 2017.

  • 75% of families eligible for rental assistance in the U.S. do not receive it.

  • 1 in 7 children lived in a household that struggled to put food on the table in 2018.

  • There were 25 school shootings in 2019.

  • The youth unemployment rate was 30% in May 2020.

2020 Children’s Budget Summit featured speakers include:

  • Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO)

  • Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

  • Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM)

  • Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

  • Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA)

  • Amb. Susan Jacobs (Retired), fmr. Special Advisor for Children’s Issues at the Department of State, fmr. Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu

  • Tom Wyatt, CEO, KinderCare Learning Centers

  • Laurie Combe, President, National Association of School Nurses

  • Roxanne Paisible, Senior Manager, Children and Youth at InterAction

  • Kimberly Morrison, teacher, Detroit Public Schools

Download First Focus on Children’s 2020 Children’s Budget Book, which captures and analyzes historical funding data and spending trends across a wide range of policy areas — including child welfare, child care, education, health, housing, income support, nutrition and more — at this link.

Press Release: Children denied fair share of federal spending for 5th consecutive year

The share of U.S. federal spending on children has hit its lowest level in five years, according to new research from First Focus on Children, even as the global pandemic threatens to reverse economic gains made since the Great Recession.

Children make up one-quarter of the U.S. population. Yet just 7.48% of all federal spending went toward their well-being in FY2020, First Focus found in its most recent federal budget analysis. The numbers represent a 2% decrease in share from FY2019 and a nearly 9% decrease across the last five fiscal years from FY2016 to FY2020.  President Trump’s FY2021 budget request would push that share even lower, to just 7.32%.

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Congress will begin its FY2021 budgeting process in earnest this week and will be forced to weigh programming priorities against pandemic response and the demands of a cratering economy. Lawmakers must ensure that the health, well-being and future of our children rise to the top of the list. At a minimum, the budget process must not further lower the dismal share we already allot our kids.

“The pandemic and its economic fallout have made a difficult situation for children even worse,” said Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus on Children. “We are the richest country in the world, yet we give our children just a tiny piece of our pie. Children were already losing health care and regular meals, and our child poverty rate was among the developed world’s highest. The coronavirus is pushing these numbers skyward, with Black and brown children disproportionately harmed. Only by putting children first in all of its upcoming budget decisions can Congress hope to avoid an even longer, deeper recession.”

The First Focus 2019 Children’s Budget revealed that the United States  — for the first time — spent a greater share of the federal budget servicing the national debt than supporting the children who will inherit it. That trend continued in our FY2020 analysis and will likely deepen as the pandemic continues to batter the economy.

The Trump Administration’s FY2021 budget request would reduce the share of federal spending on children by another 2.1% to just 7.32%. The reduction represents an inflation-adjusted cut of $21 billion on programs serving children in FY2021. The president also seeks to eliminate or financially suffocate 55 current programs that aid low-income students, subsidize heating costs for low-income kids and otherwise support children’s health, education and well-being.

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Yet the pandemic means our children desperately need more, not less, help. Hunger and homelessness are on the rise, millions of K-12 students are falling behind because they lack internet access at home, and experts predict that widespread unemployment could spike child poverty by as much as 53%.

The one-time economic impact payments authorized in the CARES Act helped struggling families and children, but significantly undervalued kids with payments that were less than half of what adults received: $1,200 for adults versus $500 per child. Many children were left out entirely because of their or their parents’ immigration status. In addition, the complicated distribution of payments to those who do not file taxes or receive Social Security will make it difficult for many eligible families to access their payments.

Congress must use the upcoming budget process to reverse these trends. Only by putting children first can lawmakers hope to blunt the pandemic’s impact on the future.

First Focus on Children will release its comprehensive analysis of the federal budget and the more than 200 programs aimed at children this fall.

2018 Children’s Budget Summit Highlights: It’s Time to Stop Shortchanging Our Children

Michelle Dallafior, Senior Vice President of Budget and Tax Policy, First Focus

Last week, First Focus hosted the 2018 Children’s Budget Summit to introduce the 11th annual release of its signature publication, Children’s Budget 2018, which captures recent spending trends across nearly 200 federal programs benefitting children. With this data, Children’s Budget 2018 analyzes the share of federal spending on children, investments across nine areas of child wellbeing, and the president’s fiscal year (FY) 2019 budget proposal, which, if enacted, would eliminate 41 children’s programs. This comprehensive analysis shows where the federal government is investing wisely in our children--and where it is shortchanging them.

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First Focus was pleased to present the event’s sponsor, Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), on behalf our sister organization, First Focus Campaign for Children, with a 2017 Champion for Children award recognizing her as one of the top U.S. Senators who consistently and effectively advocates for children and families. Her record is outstanding, including her votes in support of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and improvements in the Child Tax Credit and her bipartisan work as co-chair of the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth with Senator Grassley (R-IA).  In her inspiring remarks, Senator Stabenow highlighted her refusal to harm children and families as she leads Congressional negotiations over the 2018 Farm Bill.  As a Michigander, I am thrilled that First Focus honored her awesome, thoughtful, and tireless advocacy for our nation’s children.

First Focus President Bruce Lesley opened the Summit with a detailed presentation about how the federal budget process shortchanges children, calling Children’s Budget 2018 a “good news/bad news story.” The good news is that the share of total federal spending on children rose by a real 1.10 percent from FY 2017, thanks to increased investments stemming from the passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA, P.L. 115-123). The bad news is that this one-year improvement failed to overcome the long-term decline in the share of spending on children (a real 1.7 percent decrease) since FY 2014, and will keep shrinking, according to the  Urban Institute. Meanwhile, interest payment on the national debt is projected to exceed federal spending on Children by 2020!  These funding challenges will only intensify as our deficit balloons and revenues decrease significantly due to 2017’s $2 trillion tax bill, which largely benefited wealthy individuals and corporations over children in poverty. 

Bruce also highlighted the fact that the current budget process “rigs” the system against children and called for “inter-generational equity” in federal spending. As the Center for Responsible Federal Budget points out, spending on children is disproportionately discretionary, temporary, and capped and lacks built-in growth like Social Security and Medicare, which are mandatory and have successfully lifted many seniors out of poverty. This disadvantage, not surprisingly, leads to regular debates about funding cuts and reauthorization for important children’s programs like the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

 These trends must change so that all of our children—17.5 percent of whom currently live in poverty—have equal opportunity to thrive and succeed. Bruce recommended structural solutions such as the creation of a children’s budget, a child poverty reduction target, and an independent commissioner for children.  In addition, we could identify a dedicated revenue source for some children’s programs, convert CHIP to a permanent, mandatory program, reform TANF, raise the budget caps, and adopt the concept of inter-generational equity – so that both our seniors and kids win.

After this budget process discussion, I was honored to moderate a panel with incredible experts starting with Lynn Caroly, Ph.D., from the RAND Corporation, who also served as a key member of the 2018 National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine study “Transforming the Financing of Early Care and Education.” She gave an overview of the insufficiency of existing federal investments in our early care and education system and infrastructure, the need to incentivize high quality care, and different recommendations in the report.   

Up next, Natasha Slesnick, Ph.D., a professor of Human Development and Family Science in the Department of Human Sciences at The Ohio State University and a licensed clinical psychologist, shared her research focusing on interventions for substance using homeless youth, and substance using mothers and their children. She underscored the need for prevention services and to continue to identify hidden populations of youth, such as those experiencing homelessness, who may have the highest opioid use rates.

Our third esteemed panelist was the Rev. Fr. Douglas Greenway, who has served as President and CEO for the National WIC Association since 1990. Rev. Greenway spotlighted the need for funding to expand the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infant and Children’s capacity for community health integration, breast-feeding peer counseling, and other important services—as well as protect complimentary programs like SNAP and Medicaid from harmful policy changes.

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Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha gave an inspiring keynote address, reminding the audience that “it is our responsibility no matter where we are, to fight for our children.” Though Dr. Hanna-Attisha’s own story centers around the lead crisis in her city of Flint, Michigan, she took care to remind us that everywhere in America, poverty and trauma are injustices that are harming the lives of our children and require multifaceted interventions.

She especially stressed the need to put kids first in spending and policy decisions: “Flint is what happens when the people charged with keeping us safe care more about money and power than our children.” But her message was also one of hope.

“Flint is also the story of people coming together and resisting for our kids,” Dr. Hanna-Attisha said, citing the city’s strides in investing in evidence-based prevention programs such as trauma-informed care, universal early childhood education, home visiting, and more. She hopes Flint can serve as a model for other communities around the nation seeking to create better futures for their children.

Dr. Hanna-Attisha’s message gets to the heart of why First Focus founded the Children’s Budget Coalition nearly 10 years ago. The coalition is comprised of more than 70 children’s advocacy organizations with priorities across a wide range of issues, such as health, education, nutrition, the welfare system, juvenile justice, and more.

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In a unified voice, this broad coalition of advocates urges Congress to prioritize children in federal policy and budget decisions, and serves as a resource for our partners, lawmakers and their staff, and the public.

 Thanks to dedication, determination, and collaboration, the Coalition successfully urged Congress to raise the budget caps for FY 2018 and FY 2019. But our work continues. The budget cap will drop dramatically by $55 billion in FY 2020, and we must push for another bipartisan agreement that builds on the priorities reflected in the BBA to avoid drastic cuts in programs and services that support our children and families. We invite you to join us in this fight. As Dr. Hanna-Attisha put it, “children everywhere are counting on you.”

 Click here to view and download slides from the 2018 Children’s Budget Summit

Press Release: Share of Federal Spending on Children Has Decreased 1.7 Percent Since FY 2014

Washington, D.C., September 20, 2018

Children received 1.7 percent less of the federal budget in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 than they did in FY 2014, a new report from First Focus shows. This report confirms the long-term negative trend that the Children’s Budget has seen since the beginning of this project in 2008.

On a positive short-term note, the share of total federal spending on children rose 1.1 percent, from 7.97 percent in FY 2017 to 8.06 percent this year. The Bipartisan Budget Act had a one-time favorable impact because it temporarily raised the discretionary budget spending limits and reauthorized both the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program. Unfortunately, the spending limits are set to fall by $55 billion in FY 2020.

“Congress showed it can come together on a bipartisan basis to protect children but, overall, policymakers continue to shortchange children in federal spending decisions and neglect their needs,” said Bruce Lesley, First Focus President. “No matter which party is in power, it’s important to keep pushing our congressional leaders to prioritize investment in our kids, because they are our country’s future.”

Children’s Budget 2018 tracks 180 mandatory and discretionary programs whose funding is either entirely or partially dedicated to children’s health, early and K-12 education, nutrition, income security, housing, safety, training, and welfare.

Health and income support programs for children got the most federal funding, but still represented only 2.5 percent and 1.8 percent of it, respectively, in 2018.

This happens in the context of $4.1 trillion in total federal spending, the recent $1.5 trillion tax cuts, and the recently proposed additional $657 billion tax cuts. In FY 2018, the federal government spent 7.7 percent of its budget on the interest on the national debt—nearly as much as the 8.06 percent it spent on children.

These numbers indicate that children are not a priority at all in the budget process, especially since many federally funded children’s programs do not serve all eligible children. In fact, 17.5 percent of children lived in poverty in 2017, despite a strong economy and low unemployment.

Children are almost one quarter of the population yet spending on their programs has been hovering around 8 percent of the budget since FY 2014, as growth in total federal spending significantly outpaces increases in spending on children’s programs.

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First Focus is a bipartisan advocacy organization dedicated to making children and families the priority in federal policy and budget decisions. First Focus leads a comprehensive advocacy strategy, with its hands-on experience with federal policymaking and a commitment to seeking policy solutions.

Congress’ FY 18 Budget Resolution Neglects Children

WASHINGTON—The Children’s Budget Coalition is dismayed that Congress passed a Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 budget resolution today that does little to protect or increase investments in the vital programs that serve American children and families. As outlined in the 2016 Children’s Budget Book, children continue to receive a decreasing share of the federal budget.

Bruce Lesley, President of the First Focus Campaign for Children, which convenes the Children’s Budget Coalition, said:

“This divestment in kids has a real and devastating impact on crucial resources for housing, education, nutrition, general welfare, and health, to name just a few. 

Congress cannot continue to make children and families its last priority in federal budget decisions.

If they’re serious about the health and well-being of our kids—and America’s future—they will ensure that non-defense discretionary (NDD) funding has parity with defense discretionary spending. And they will support mandatory programs that help lift kids and families out of poverty. Today’s FY 18 budget resolution does neither.”

Despite the great need for relief from the 2011 Budget Control Act’s caps on NDD spending, the FY 18 Budget Resolution adheres to those caps—and projects massive cuts in those funds over the next ten years. At the same time, it allows for legislation that would increase defense discretionary spending above its FY 18 cap, abandoning the core sequestration principle of parity between NDD and defense discretionary spending.  

Already, the BCA has resulted in an alarming 13 percent decrease in inflation-adjusted NDD spending since 2010.  Should Congress fail to reach a budget agreement to lift the FY 18 NDD budget cap, spending will continue to drop, with devastating consequences to over 130 discretionary programs that directly support children and families.

Although it was encouraging to see that the final FY 18 Budget Resolution abandoned the House’s damaging request for $200 billion in cuts to mandatory spending, its announced savings of $5 trillion over 10 years means that mandatory programs could be on the chopping block in the future. Meanwhile, plans to use reconciliation to generate tax cuts that add up to $1.5 trillion to the deficit over ten years could risk future spending on mandatory programs that support low income children.

West Virginia Event Highlights Need to Put Kids First in Federal Budget

By Rachel Merker, Director of Policy & Research

A Huntington woman reads to a group of children as part of the KidsFest theme "Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies, and Healthy Futures."

A Huntington woman reads to a group of children as part of the KidsFest theme "Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies, and Healthy Futures."

What does it look like to make children and families a priority in federal policy and budget decisions? KidsFest 2017, an annual community event led by the United Way of the River Cities in Huntington, West Virginia, is a great example.

This year, KidsFest was held on September 17 at Ritter Park in Huntington, West Virginia. The festivities welcomed local children and their families to enjoy an afternoon of fun, centered around the theme of “Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies, and Healthy Futures.” A wide range of service providers were available to educate children and parents on issues like substance abuse, nutrition, early learning, safety, and more. Children’s Health Fund, a member of the Children’s Budget Coalition, made an especially exciting appearance at this event, bringing their West Virginia Children’s Health Project mobile medical clinic—directed by Dr. Isabel Pino—to raise the importance of consistent access to pediatric care.  The Herald Dispatch, the local newspaper, took notice of Dr. Pino’s efforts, featuring her in their front page article about the event.

Using the mobile health unit, Dr. Pino serves children who struggle to access medical care due to a lack of infrastructure and resources. I asked Dr. Pino what the federal and state governments can do to make it easier for rural communities to get to the doctor. She explained every community is different, so a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t always appropriate—but investments in infrastructure, public transportation and improved broadband networks to enable telemedicine are good places to start.

As I made my way through the event, I had a chance to interact with other admirable service providers who invest in West Virginia children on a daily basis. While many of their efforts are funded through the generosity of individual and corporate donors, it is also true that federal and state dollars can play a large role in bolstering programming that equips children to have healthy futures. As several Children’s Budget Coalition members can attest to, the government is an important link in the chain between children and service providers.

Several booths, including one from The Office of the West Virginia Attorney General, engaged children around avoiding substance abuse. These providers highlighted the devastating fallout the opioid epidemic has had on children (especially in rural areas) both with respect to health outcomes and separation from parents struggling with addiction. With foster care systems stretched, state and federal investment in child welfare services are critical during this crisis.

The booth hosted by Playmates Preschools & Child Development Centers was a shining example of how public investment in high quality child care can pay off: this organization, whose centers are all accredited by Children’s Budget Coalition member National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), collaborates with AmeriCorps, 21st Century Learning Centers, and local education boards to provide safe, developmentally appropriate and high quality child care and pre-school services. The United Way of the River Cities similarly emphasized the importance of Early Childhood and Education initiatives, giving out free books at its “Success by 6” booth.

KidsFest 2017 is truly a picture of what it looks like to invest in kids. This event should remind advocates and policymakers what—and who—will suffer if the federal government fails to invest in their futures.

A special thanks to the organizations who worked with First Focus to include the Children’s Budget Coalition in KidsFest 2017: Children’s Health Fund, Save the Children Action Network, Save the Children, United Way Worldwide, & United Way of the River Cities. 

Second annual United Way event features family fun, education

9/12/17

The Herald-Dispatch (Huntington, WV)

HUNTINGTON - Pack up the kids and prepare for some educational fun as United Way of the River Cities hosts the second annual Kids Fest, a celebration of healthy families and children, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, at Ritter Park.

This event will feature free family fun including inflatables, performances, games, and prizes, and aims provide free education on how to keep the mind and body healthy as children prepare for their future, according to a news release.

The event will also feature the mobile medical clinic of the West Virginia Children's Health Project, led by Dr. Isabel Pino. As part of Children's Health Fund, this program helped West Virginia children through provision of more than 4,500 clinical and community health education encounters last year, according to the release. Children's Health Fund, Save the Children, and United Way are all organizations that are part of the Children's Budget Coalition, led by the nonprofit advocacy organization First Focus, which is dedicated to making children and families the priority in federal policy and budget decisions.

"We are thrilled to be partnering with Children's Health Fund and Save the Children organizations this year. It's going to be a wonderful event for the families and children in the greater Huntington area," Lena Burdette, director of education initiative at United Way of the River Cities, said in the release.

Sponsors for the festival include Hoops Family Children's Hospital, The Herald-Dispatch, Cabell County Schools, and B97 FM.

Other organizations participating in this year's Kids Fest include Cabell County Library, Huntington Museum of Art, Cabell-Huntington Health Department, Peachtree Center, Goodwill Industries, Wayne County Schools, Cabell County Schools, Playmates Child Development Center, Pressley Ridge, H & H Enterprises, Health of Appalachia Educational Opportunity Center, Branches Domestic Violence Shelter, The Health Plan, MedExpress, CCSAPP, The WV Housing Authority, WV American Water mobile hydration station, Office of the West Virginia Attorney General, YMCA Kids in Motion and more.

If interested in participating or for more information, contact Burdette at 304-523-8929, ext. 102 or lena.burdette@unitedwayrivercities.org or visit unitedwayrivercities.org.

Loophole Disguises How the Budget Control Act Endangers Kids

By Rachel Merker

Crucial resources to help children have suffered from a steady tide of divestment in federal spending in recent years. The dozens of children’s groups that make up the Children’s Budget Coalition (CBC) believe the caps on non-defense discretionary spending mandated by the Budget Control Act (BCA) present a major obstacle to more spending on initiatives to improve the lives of kids.

Congress itself seems aware that current spending levels aren’t sufficient. That’s why they frequently rely on a budget gimmick allowing them to appropriate above BCA limits: Changes in Mandatory Program Savings (CHIMPS).

Appropriators utilize CHIMPS by setting “spending limits” in mandatory programs whose previous authorizations overestimated future spending (the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Crime Victim’s Fund are two frequent targets). Under scorekeeping rules, the “savings” generated by these caps are then allowed to offset discretionary spending above BCA caps.

The only problem? Those savings aren’t real, because the money wasn’t going to be spent in the first place. The CBO notes this by scoring CHIMPS as a net zero in actual outlay savings.

Without CHIMPS, sub-allocations to non-defense discretionary spending would likely be even lower than current levels. Yet Congress has begun cracking down on this budget loophole, capping the amount of discretionary spending that appropriators can offset from CHIMPS that don’t correspond with net outlay savings. For Fiscal Year 2017, that number was $19 billion—and in Fiscal Year 2018, it’s $17 billion. A reduction down to $15 billion is set for Fiscal Year 2019.

Those rules illuminate the underlying problem with using a budget a gimmick to get around BCA caps: it’s not sustainable. Meanwhile, because CHIMPS rely on overestimations for future mandatory program spending, the available “savings” can also fluctuate year to year. When CHIMPS decrease, discretionary spending available to appropriators like the subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education takes a serious hit.

On the one hand, CHIMPS are an important tool for continuing funding for vital non-defense discretionary spending that benefits children. But a much simpler, and more sustainable, solution is available.

If Congress is serious about investing in children’s futures, they need to stop maneuvering around the Budget Control Act using tricky math and start working to lift the caps on non-defense discretionary spending altogether.

More than 55 Children’s Groups Concerned about Trump Budget’s Impact on Kids

WASHINGTON—The Children’s Budget Coalition (CBC)—a group of more than 55 national organizations dedicated to the well-being of children—is deeply concerned about the President’s Fiscal Year 2018 (FY 18) budget released today. We believe the $54 billion in cuts to non-defense discretionary programs (NDD) could devastate programs that impact children’s development and well-being, particularly in the areas of health, education, nutrition, housing and general welfare.

John Monsif, VP of Government Relations at the First Focus Campaign for Children, said on behalf of the coalition:

“Congress must prevent this misguided proposal by lifting the budget caps on non-defense discretionary (NDD) appropriations and fully investing in kids. Otherwise, the slashing of funding for children’s programs will have real consequences for real people. Our children will be hungrier, sicker, and crammed into more overcrowded classrooms because of these budget cuts. Our youngest and most vulnerable members of society deserve better.”

The Children’s Budget Coalition urges Congress to take the following actions to protect children and invest in their future:

  1. Lift the budget caps for non-defense discretionary (NDD) spending;
  2. Maintain parity between non-defense and defense discretionary spending; and
  3. Increase allocations in the appropriations bills for programs that benefit children.

Investing in children is urgent given two worrying trends, according to the First Focus 2016 Children’s Budget Book: 1) Children’s programs accounted for a mere 2.1 percent of all new total federal spending over the previous five years, despite overall spending increasing by 7.7 percent; and 2) The share of total federal spending on children decreased 5.1 percent between 2014 and 2016.

We cannot continue down this divestment path – our children are America’s future. Now is the time for lawmakers who talk a good game about kids to step up to the plate and act to protect them and help them thrive.