; Whereas the National Academy of Sciences finds that when households with children receive cash transfers, parents and caretakers spend it on resources that support their children’s healthy development, leading to improved physical and behavioral health and educational outcomes for their children and leading these children to earn more as adults; Whereas, as the United States high rate of child poverty has negative implications for not only the outcomes of individual children living in poverty, but also for society as a whole, costing the United States upward of $1 trillion a year due to lost economic output, increased health care costs, and more; Whereas the outbreak of COVID–19 and its economic fallout has had a disproportionately negative impact for the economic security of households with children, especially for households of color and those that were already struggling before the pandemic; Whereas too often children unjustly come in contact with the child welfare system due to a lack of household sufficient economic supports and youth who age out of the foster care system experience higher levels of poverty, criminal justice involvement, and homelessness than their peers; Whereas households with children with disabilities and special health care needs are more prone to economic hardship, as the yearly average cost of caring for a child with disabilities ranges from around $6,000 to $20,000; Whereas poverty is inextricably linked to homelessness, with over 1,000,000 students experiencing homelessness in the 2020–2021 school year, yet these issues are often addressed in separate policy silos; Whereas the United States invests fewer public dollars in early childhood education and care than almost all other developed nations; Whereas social spending on children has a bigger return on investment for society than social spending for other ages yet the United States continues to underinvest in children