U.S. Senator Susan Collins recently accepted the "Champion of Children Award" from representatives of First Focus. First Focus is a bipartisan advocacy group for children's issues. Senator Collins was selected to receive the award on behalf of her support for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). One of the first bills that Senator Collins sponsored when she first came to the Senate was legislation to establish SCHIP and she has been a strong proponent of the program since then.