These five newsletters comprise volume 20 of "CDF Reports." They discuss concerns related to child advocacy and provide information on problems in children's lives in the United States. Regular features include the editorial column "A Voice for Children"; a status report on federal legislation related to children; descriptions of Children's Defense Fund activities; news from the Black Community Crusade for Children; media tips; field strategies; and summaries of relevant research and reports. Topics covered in the major articles include the following: (1) January--opportunities to invest in children from tobacco settlement monies, Stand for Children Day, and the impact of poverty on children; (2) February--1998 congressional voting record; (3) March--state child care and early education initiatives, public opinion regarding the working poor and initiatives for assistance, and statistics for various negative events in children's lives, incorporating differences for various racial and ethnic categories; (4) April-May--welfare regulations for the 1996 federal welfare legislation, and the annual analysis of the state of America's children; and (5) June-July--the impact of gun violence on children, a tribute to civil rights advocate Mae Bertha Carter, and the Children's Sabbaths initiative. (KB)