First Focus on Children

We've reported extensively on the problems within the states school voucher program and received a lot of push back from Superintendent Tom Horne. Now the states auditor general has issued a scathing report highlighting the flaws. @12News 12news.com/article/news/i…

🚨During lunch at his golf course with tobacco executives on May 2, Pres. Trump called Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Oz, furious. He wanted action on flavored vapes. And he soon got it, prompting the FDA commissioner to resign. W/ the amazing @kenvogel: 🎁 nytimes.com/2026/05/13/us/…

Virginia becomes first southern state to offer paid family and medical leave wtvr.com/news/local-new… This is how its done! Thank you @GovernorVA and all the advocates like Allison Gilbreath at @vakids that made it happen after years of work!

7 million children live in a home with an unlocked, loaded gun, a study finds : NPR npr.org/2026/05/12/nx-…

Illinois' book ban protections stand out as U.S. bans surge - Axios Chicago buff.ly/0lAX7KN

Child Fatality Task Force releases report with recommendatio... wakeweekly.com/news/child-fat…

'My Child Is Now a Political Debate': Immigrant Families Respond as Arguments Wrap in Landmark Challenge Against Trump's Birthright Citizenship Threats | Creators Syndicate bit.ly/4dtIgYO

Abuse Leaves Measurable Biological Marks in Children's Bodies Within a Year - ScienceBlog bit.ly/4wpzmEe

Asheville Academy and what happens when teen treatment centers close bit.ly/4nlgkum

For the Little Children open.substack.com/pub/brucelesle…

Years after sex abuse scandal rocked USA Gymnastics, a young athlete says "it happened again" flip.it/Vi1CAd

"I apologize to all those civilians, teachers, journalists, health workers, public figures who were stigmatized, harassed or treated as enemies simply for speaking out and standing up, for expressing a different opinion. I apologize !" Péter Magyar in his inaugural speech 🇭🇺🇪🇺

Rx Kids associated with significant reductions in infant maltreatment investigations | University of Michigan Health buff.ly/9RqgUG7

1/2 The General Assembly failed to fund Pre-K for All, turning a no-brainer into a partisan issue. Kentucky's kids, families and businesses deserve better. Today I signed an executive order launching the Pre-K for All Pilot Program in Robertson and Rockcastle counties.

A group of parents, a teacher and the Florida Education Association filed the suit against the FL Department of Education and education officials, arguing that public schools are being underfunded due to funds being diverted to vouchers and charters. wesh.com/article/educat…

Rubio says his hope for America is a place “…where you are not limited by the circumstances of your birth [and] each generation has left the next generation freer, more prosperous, safer….” So, what is this Administration doing to improve opportunities for babies at their birth and for children to succeed? ❌ Trying to gut birthright citizenship so babies will be left stateless and directly harmed for life, precisely because the circumstances of their birth. @marcorubio personally benefitted from birthright citizenship but now the Administration is trying to gut it by Executive Order. ❌ Slashing Healthy Start, which has reduced infant and maternal mortality. ❌ Slashing Medicaid, which covers 41% of all births and the health of millions of children, by nearly $1 trillion so that millions of children will be less healthy. ❌ Cutting SNAP by $200 billion, which threatens the nutrition of 16 million children. ❌ Passing a Child Tax Credit that leaves 20 million children behind because their parents make “too little.” Babies are literally having their CTC cut because moms lose income during pregnancy and childbirth. They pushes babies (and their siblings) into poverty. @marcorubio worked to truly improve the CTC in 2017, but the 2025 version leaves millions more children behind. ❌ Cutting and spreading misinformation about immunizations is increasing vaccine preventable illnesses like measles, which are skyrocketing among children and making them less safe. ❌ Threatening public schools and the abolition of the Department of Education, which is the vehicle by which each generation has become more prosperous in the past. With all due respect, the policies do not come close to matching the very nice rhetoric. Child poverty, uninsured rates, child hunger, and child homelessness are all worse.

One Big Beautiful Bill’s Child Tax Credit Still Leaves America’s Poorest Children Far Behind janresseger.wordpress.com/2026/05/07/485… via @janresseger

Rubio says his hope for America is a place “…where you are not limited by the circumstances of your birth [and] each generation has left the next generation freer, more prosperous, safer….” So, what is this Administration doing to improve opportunities for babies at their birth and for children to succeed? ❌ Trying to gut birthright citizenship so babies will be left stateless and directly harmed for life, precisely because the circumstances of their birth. @marcorubio personally benefitted from birthright citizenship but now the Administration is trying to gut it by Executive Order. ❌ Slashing Healthy Start, which has reduced infant and maternal mortality. ❌ Slashing Medicaid, which covers 41% of all births and the health of millions of children, by nearly $1 trillion so that millions of children will be less healthy. ❌ Cutting SNAP by $200 billion, which threatens the nutrition of 16 million children. ❌ Passing a Child Tax Credit that leaves 20 million children behind because their parents make “too little.” Babies are literally having their CTC cut because moms lose income during pregnancy and childbirth. They pushes babies (and their siblings) into poverty. @marcorubio worked to truly improve the CTC in 2017, but the 2025 version leaves millions more children behind. ❌ Cutting and spreading misinformation about immunizations is increasing vaccine preventable illnesses like measles, which are skyrocketing among children and making them less safe. ❌ Threatening public schools and the abolition of the Department of Education, which is the vehicle by which each generation has become more prosperous in the past. With all due respect, the policies do not come close to matching the very nice rhetoric. Child poverty, uninsured rates, child hunger, and child homelessness are all worse.

Thomas Massie reveals that the White House took Lauren Boebert to the White House Situation Room, a room used for major crises, and demanded that she remove her name from the Epstein discharge petition. "The president vetoed a bill that would've brought water to a large portion of Colorado." "Why are people in Colorado being deprived of water because their representative wants to expose a child trafficking ring?"

Misinformation can kill. Newborns dying from catastrophic bleeding due to vitamin K deficiency is preventable. Yet more parents are declining vitamin K injections, fueled in part by rampant health misinformation online. One shot is all it takes to help protect a newborn from potentially catastrophic bleeding until their own bodies can produce enough vitamin K on their own. Vitamin K deficiency bleeding can cause bleeding in the brain, permanent neurologic injury, and death. Babies are born with very low vitamin K stores, which is exactly why this standard intervention exists. This shouldn’t be controversial. It shouldn’t be politicized. And it absolutely shouldn’t be drowned out by influencers with no medical training spreading fear for clicks. Preventive medicine only works if people trust it. Right now, that trust is being eroded in real time and infants are paying the price.