Formerly known as Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY), Children First continues the 45 years of advocacy on behalf of children and families in southeastern PA. Learn more about our history.

MISSION

Childhood is fleeting, and there are no do-overs. That’s why we apply pressure to government officials to persuade them to take the necessary steps to provide every child with the basic ingredients for a lifetime of success.

Children First improves the lives and life chances of our region’s low-income, Black, and Hispanic children by advocating for the building blocks of opportunity — equitable access to high-quality early education, sound health care, effective public schools, as well as dependency and delinquency systems that heal children. We work with and organize parents, youth, and concerned citizens to advance these fundamental requirements of a more just society and for a better future.