Speaking of Kids...

In this episode, hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech Looby chat with Phyllis Rabinowitz, Co-Founder and Co-President of the R Baby Foundation. Phyllis co-founded the R Baby Foundation with her husband, Andrew, after the loss of their nine-day-old daughter, Rebecca Ava, due to a misdiagnosis in the emergency room. The R Baby Foundation is the first and only foundation dedicated to making sure every emergency room is prepared to give babies and children lifesaving care. Phyllis emphasizes the importance for emergency care to be tailored to the needs of babies and children. Each year, a study estimates that 1400 children pass away, and many other children receive inadequate care,in emergency rooms because of the lack of pediatric preparedness. Phyllis recommends that parents research their local emergency room(s) to see if they have pediatric care coordinators and meet a checklist of pediatric preparedness standards. Phyllis, Bruce, and Messellech also discuss policy changes that would ensure better training, staffing, equipment, research, and education to improve the delivery of emergency care and treatment to children.Learn more about pediatric emergency room care: Checklist and Toolkit for Pediatric Readiness Project, EMSC Innovation and Improvement CenterBlog: Children Are Not Little Adults: Ensuring Adequate Pediatric Emergency Care in U.S. Hospitals, By Bruce Lesley Resource: Sponsor Your ER, by The R Baby Foundation App: find ER now Article: Children Are Dying in Ill-Prepared Emergency Rooms Across America, By Liz Essley Whyte and Melanie Evans, Wall Street Journal Follow the R Baby Foundation on LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube. To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. 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. 

In this episode, co-host Bruce Lesley chats with Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), chair of the Dads Caucus. Rep. Gomez launched the Dads Caucus after a photo of him holding and caring for his son Hodge on the House floor went viral. Rep. Gomez talks about moms have been the “default parent” and the importance of fathers stepping up for kids both at home and in Congress. Learn more about the Dads Caucus: https://gomez.house.gov/dadscaucus/Article: Dads in Congress reflect on working in Washington while making sure 'kids come first', ByJay O'Brien and Arthur Jones IIArticle: They’re Not Just Dads, They’re Congressional Dads, By Marc Tracy Video: Invest in Kids Briefing with the Dads, Mamas, and Baby Caucuses and First Focus on Children, Zero to Three, and the Children’s Defense FundTo join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. 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. 

In this episode, co-host Bruce Lesley chats with Mike Hixenbaugh, a senior investigative reporter for NBC News about the ongoing attacks on public schools across the country. They discuss Hixenbaugh’s new book, “They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms,” which documents the culture wars in Southlake and Grapevine, Texas. Hixenbaugh argues that challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and critical race theory (CRT) stem from resistance to  dealing with racism and repeat previous patterns in our society. Hixenbaugh compares the current attacks on public education by groups such as “Moms for Liberty” with prior movements, such as efforts to stop the teaching of evolution, opposition to desegregation of public schools, and groups like Phyllis Schlafly’s “Eagle Forum,” which waged a campaign to purge classrooms of books and curriculums that they deemed anti-God, anti-American, and anti-family. In the podcast, Hixenbaugh also discusses why he centered the students as the protagonists in his book.Learn more about attacks on public education:  Book: They Came for the Schools: One Town's Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America's Classrooms, By Mike HixenbaughBook Review: Texas Schools at a Crossroads: Identity, Politics, and Public Education in Hixenbaugh's 'They Came for the Schools', By Bruce Lesley Newsletter: The Alliance for Student Liberty, By Lily Klam Article: When Conservative Parents Revolt, By Mike HixenbaughBlog: Texans Standing Up for Their Students and Public Schools, By Bruce LesleyPodcasts: Southlake and Grapevine, By Mike Hixenbaugh and Antonia HyltonTo join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. 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 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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.