Podcast Archives | First Focus on Children https://firstfocus.org/updates/podcast/ Making Children and Families the Priority Fri, 06 Jun 2025 19:32:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 https://firstfocus.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/cropped-image-4-32x32.png Podcast Archives | First Focus on Children https://firstfocus.org/updates/podcast/ 32 32 Episode 24: Kids on The Ballot https://firstfocus.org/update/episode-24-kids-on-the-ballot/ Wed, 16 Oct 2024 11:00:00 +0000 https://firstfocus.org/?post_type=update&p=33505 In this episode, hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech Looby chat about the the importance of children’s issues in the upcoming election. Despite children making up over 20% of the population, children’s issues are often overlooked and ignored in policymaking. Lesley and Looby outline some of the major disparities in policies between the candidates, particularly focusing on the child tax credit, children’s health, and funding for public education.

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In this episode, hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech Looby chat about the importance of children’s issues in the upcoming election. Despite children making up over 20% of the population, children’s issues are often overlooked and ignored in policymaking. Lesley and Looby outline some of the major disparities in policies between the candidates, particularly focusing on the child tax credit, children’s health, and funding for public education.

Learn more about children’s issues in the election:

To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. 

Send us comments on thoughts via email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.org

Find us on Twitter/X: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_Focus

Want to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. 

Transcript

Coming soon

The post Episode 24: Kids on The Ballot appeared first on First Focus on Children.

]]> Episode 23: The Importance of the First 1,000 Days, with Miriam Calderón https://firstfocus.org/update/episode-23-the-importance-of-the-first-1000-days-with-miriam-calderon/ Wed, 02 Oct 2024 13:47:52 +0000 https://firstfocus.org/?post_type=update&p=33466 In this episode, hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech Looby chat with Miriam Calderón, Chief Policy Officer of Zero to Three. Miriam has dedicated her life to ensuring that all children have access to essential resources such as child care, nutrition programs, and maternal health services. In today’s episode, Miriam addresses the importance of the first 1000 days of a child’s life and highlights the need for holistic approaches to early childhood policies, including policies that support mental health services, reproductive rights, and economic security. She also discusses the flaws of our current child care, health, and education systems, where opportunity and outcomes are often determined by zip codes.

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In this episode, hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech Looby chat with Miriam Calderón, Chief Policy Officer of Zero to Three. Miriam has dedicated her life to ensuring that all children have access to essential resources such as child care, nutrition programs, and maternal health services. In today’s episode, Miriam addresses the importance of the first 1000 days of a child’s life and highlights the need for holistic approaches to early childhood policies, including policies that support mental health services, reproductive rights, and economic security. She also discusses the flaws of our current child care, health, and education systems, where opportunity and outcomes are often determined by zip codes.

Learn more about Zero to Three’s work:

To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. 

Send us comments on thoughts via email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.org

Find us on Twitter/X: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_Focus

Want to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. 

Transcript

Coming soon

The post Episode 23: The Importance of the First 1,000 Days, with Miriam Calderón appeared first on First Focus on Children.

]]> Episode 22: Children Are Not Little Adults with Dr. Glenn Flores https://firstfocus.org/update/episode-22-children-are-not-little-adults-with-dr-glenn-flores/ Wed, 21 Aug 2024 14:29:30 +0000 https://firstfocus.org/?post_type=update&p=33213 In this episode, hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech Looby chat with Dr. Glenn Flores, Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Glenn Flores explains that the most important lesson in child health research and policy is that children are not little adults - they have vastly different anatomy and physiology depending on their age, which requires taking a developmental perspective. Dr. Flores also discusses several pressing health inequities that children face, caused by racial, financial, and geographic disparities. There is also a discussion of the current most pressing concerns facing child health, such as medicaid unwinding and the rise in mood disorders.

The post Episode 22: Children Are Not Little Adults with Dr. Glenn Flores appeared first on First Focus on Children.

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In this episode, hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech Looby chat with Dr. Glenn Flores, Professor and Chair of Pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Glenn Flores explains that the most important lesson in child health research and policy is that children are not little adults – they have vastly different anatomy and physiology depending on their age, which requires taking a developmental perspective. Dr. Flores also discusses several pressing health inequities that children face, caused by racial, financial, and geographic disparities. There is also a discussion of the current most pressing concerns facing child health, such as medicaid unwinding and the rise in mood disorders.

Learn more about current challenges in children’s healthcare:

To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. 

Send us comments on thoughts via email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.org

Find us on Twitter/X: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_Focus

Want to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. 

Transcript

Coming soon

The post Episode 22: Children Are Not Little Adults with Dr. Glenn Flores appeared first on First Focus on Children.

]]> Episode 21: The Importance in Investing in Our Youngest with Cynthia Osborne https://firstfocus.org/update/episode-21-the-importance-in-investing-in-our-youngest-with-cynthia-osborne/ Wed, 07 Aug 2024 14:10:28 +0000 https://firstfocus.org/?post_type=update&p=33176 In this episode, hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech Looby chat with Dr. Cynthia Osborne, founder and executive director of the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, about the importance in investing in our youngest: infants and toddlers. Bruce and Selley also highlight the recent vote on the child tax credit and their disappointment with the bill failing, despite the credit previously cutting child poverty in half. 

The post Episode 21: The Importance in Investing in Our Youngest with Cynthia Osborne appeared first on First Focus on Children.

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In this episode, hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech Looby chat with Dr. Cynthia Osborne, founder and executive director of the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, about the importance in investing in our youngest: infants and toddlers. Bruce and Selley also highlight the recent vote on the child tax credit and their disappointment with the bill failing, despite the credit previously cutting child poverty in half. 

Cynthia shares that the earlier we invest in children, the better the impact is for both our children and society as a whole. This includes efforts like child care, home visiting programs, and paid family leave. In fact, she found that every dollar invested in a paid family medical leave program has an $18 benefit back to the community. Throughout the episode, Cynthia emphasizes that economic stability is the crux for the well-being of families.

Learn more about the importance of investing in our youngest:

To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. 

Send us comments on thoughts via email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.org

Find us on Twitter/X: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_Focus

Want to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. 

Transcript

Coming soon

The post Episode 21: The Importance in Investing in Our Youngest with Cynthia Osborne appeared first on First Focus on Children.

]]> Episode 20: Advocating for Kids in Kentucky and Across America with Dr. Terry Brooks https://firstfocus.org/update/episode-20-advocating-for-kids-in-kentucky-and-across-america-with-dr-terry-brooks/ Wed, 24 Jul 2024 14:23:19 +0000 https://firstfocus.org/?post_type=update&p=32943 In this episode, hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech Looby chat with Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, a nonprofit watchdog for Kentucky's kids. Dr. Brooks has successfully worked with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents to make necessary improvements for the lives of children across the state, such as supporting kinship caregivers and kids in foster care. Dr. Brooks tells our hosts that Kentucky’s children, like those around the country, are at a crossroads. Society has accepted issues such as child poverty as normal, he says, and he shares his efforts to press policymakers to focus on issues such as child care and child poverty, rather than on distractions like the culture wars. Dr. Brooks also discusses the complexities of a Kentucky ballot initiative that would allow the general assembly to use public money for private schools. 

The post Episode 20: Advocating for Kids in Kentucky and Across America with Dr. Terry Brooks appeared first on First Focus on Children.

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In this episode, hosts Bruce Lesley and Messellech Looby chat with Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, a nonprofit watchdog for Kentucky’s kids. Dr. Brooks has successfully worked with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents to make necessary improvements for the lives of children across the state, such as supporting kinship caregivers and kids in foster care. Dr. Brooks tells our hosts that Kentucky’s children, like those around the country, are at a crossroads. Society has accepted issues such as child poverty as normal, he says, and he shares his efforts to press policymakers to focus on issues such as child care and child poverty, rather than on distractions like the culture wars. Dr. Brooks also discusses the complexities of a Kentucky ballot initiative that would allow the general assembly to use public money for private schools. 

Learn more about Kentucky Youth Advocates:  

To join the conversation, follow First Focus on Children on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. 

Send us comments on thoughts via email: SpeakingOfKids@firstfocus.org

Find us on Twitter/X: @SpeakingOfKids, @BruceLesley and @First_Focus

Want to be a voice for kids? Become an Ambassador for Children here. 

Transcript

Coming soon

The post Episode 20: Advocating for Kids in Kentucky and Across America with Dr. Terry Brooks appeared first on First Focus on Children.

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