Coalition on Human Needs: We will continue to oppose blank check funding and lawless actions by ICE and Border Patrol
June 10, 2026
CHN urges Trump Administration to withdraw threat to SNAP benefits
David Elliot,
September 24, 2019
The Coalition on Human Needs this week demanded that the Trump Administration withdraw a proposal that would cause more than 3 million Americans to lose SNAP benefits – and many children to lose access to important nutrition assistance programs ranging from school lunch to WIC. In comments submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, CHN Executive Director Deborah Weinstein emphasized the importance of SNAP as a tool for fighting poverty, and expressed strong opposition to the Administration’s effort to revise Categorical Eligibility, a long-standing option that 40 states use to better serve needy families.
First Focus report: Child poverty remains high while federal spending on children declines
Lear Burton,
September 24, 2019
First Focus on Children recently held its annual Children’s Budget Summit and released its signature Children’s Budget publication that analyzes how well children have fared in federal spending over the past 5 years. The poverty rate for children is 54.4 percent higher than it is for adults, so how well is the federal government doing in appropriating money to programs that benefit children? Unfortunately, we aren’t doing enough. The share of federal spending on children has dropped to an all-time low of 7.21 percent of the federal budget, a near 10 percent decline since 2015.
Are child poverty and America’s housing crisis up for debate?
David Elliot,
September 13, 2019
Thursday night the leading presidential candidates took the stage in Houston for the latest debate. Earlier this summer, Voices for Human Needs took note of the fact that candidates are rarely asked debate questions about how to address poverty. This week we witnessed a number of groups and individuals who argued that presidential debates should include questions about how to solve homelessness and America’s affordable housing crisis, and about how to best address child poverty.
Resources from around the Coalition: CHN members weigh in on Census numbers
David Elliot,
September 12, 2019
When the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual reports on income, poverty and health care coverage this week, CHN members were quick to weigh in with their own commentary. You can see a number of their press statements and blog posts (and lots of other resources) on our Census resource page. But meanwhile, here is a sample of what our members are saying.
Unhealthy statistics: fewer Americans have health insurance — and millions are not sharing in economic growth
CHN Staff,
September 10, 2019
For the first time since implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the number of uninsured Americans has risen – evidence of the Trump Administration’s assault on health care. U.S. Census Bureau statistics released Tuesday show 27.5 million Americans, or 8.5 percent of the population, did not have health insurance in 2018, an increase of 1.9 million over 2017.
