| The Adopted Budget: Wrap Up and Comments |
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| Thursday, 30 June 2011 10:23 |
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There are approximately $113 million worth of cuts to human service programs in New York City’s budget for FY 2011-12 which begins tomorrow, according to the Human Services Council of New York (HSC). The final Adopted Budget was approved by the City Council in a vote yesterday. Originally, Mayor Bloomberg’s Executive Budget submission had included an estimated $340 million in proposed cuts to key human services. “We are very pleased to see $227 million (or 67% of proposed cuts) restored to services such as senior services, child care, mental hygiene, domestic violence and other areas,” says Chris Winward, Senior Policy Analyst at HSC. “However, there are still many cuts that will significantly impact providers and clients such as homeless, family and adult literacy, summer youth employment, Beacons and Out of School Time afterschool services. Click here to download HSC’s detailed analysis of the Adopted Budget. As the details of the final budget agreement became clear, advocates, providers and individual Council Members weighed in with comments. Funding restorations for child care services – which were estimated to total $82 million – drew substantial praise from advocates who had banded together to create The Emergency Coalition to Save Child Care. They estimated that the funding would restore 257 classrooms and thousands of family child care provider slots while also ensuring that 6 child care centers slated to close will remain open. They jointly expressed gratitude to the Mayor, Speaker Christine Quinn and Council Members Annabel Palmer and Lew Fidler. “This budget agreement has saved thousands of jobs for families who rely on child care services and those child care workers who teach our children each and every day,” said Andrea Anthony, Executive Director of Day Care Council of New York, a member of the Emergency Coalition to Save Child Care. “Hundreds of community-based organizations throughout our city will now be able to continue doing what they do best – giving young children an essential foundation for lifelong success.” “Parents, providers, advocates, and every day New York City citizens made their voices heard—writing thousands of letters and emails and making countless calls to the Mayor and City Council members, urging them to Save Child Care! Their voices were heard!” said Stephanie Gendell, Associate Executive Director of Citizens’ Committee for Children. Senior Services, which had been targeted for significant budget cuts, also saw a number of important restorations. A total of $34.4 million out of $39 million in proposed cuts were restored, according to the Council of Senior Centers and Services (CSCS). Particularly gratifying for advocates was the fact that $14 million of funding restorations for senior center operations were actually “baselined” as part of the City’s budget – ending the annual budget dance to get funding restored. Another $5 million in new funding for Innovative Senior Centers was also included in the budget baseline going forward. Cuts to youth programs, including OST and the Beacons, were one area of significant concern. “The Mayor and Speaker Quinn should be commended for working hard to restore proposed budget cuts to critically important programs for children and families – particularly the restorations to the childcare system,” said Richard Buery, CEO of Children’s Aid Society. “However, more than $13 million has still been cut from the Out of School Time after school system and millions more from other youth programs, meaning that thousands of New York children will lose access to safe and supportive out of school environments. Any budget is a value statement – a reflection of what we hold near and dear to our hearts and what we feel is expendable and not expendable. Unfortunately, throughout the negotiation process there was never serious consideration of revenue-generating proposals like progressive new income taxes on the wealthiest – leaving low-income and middle income New Yorkers to bear the brunt of the burden. To pass a budget that truly reflects all of New York, every New Yorker must contribute, not just the most vulnerable.” City Council General Welfare Committee Chair Annabel Palmer noted the restoration of $2 million to the Teen Relationship Abuse Prevention Program (Teen RAPP). “Teen RAPP, a school-based program which seeks to end relationship abuse amongst young people, is one of the most extensive domestic violence prevention programs in New York City and is one of the only citywide programs targeting teen populations,” she said. “This restoration will ensure that the Human Resource Administration continues to have the necessary resources to fight domestic violence and help young people develop healthier relationships.” Palmer also commented on the restoration of $250,000 to the Citywide Homeless Prevention Fund and $1.2 million for shelter-based medical services. “While these restorations do not erase the full impact of the Administration’s cuts to Homeless Services, they are a victory nonetheless for this vulnerable and under-served population,” she said. The 12% and Growing Coalition consisting of over 40 Asian led and serving organizations in New York City praised many of the budget restorations while still expressing concerns over the adequacy of City services to meet the needs of a rapidly growing Asian American community. "We congratulate Mayor Bloomberg, Speaker Quinn, and the City Council for averting the worst of the cuts. The New York City FY 2012 Budget restored key initiatives, such as the Immigrant Opportunities Initiative, Domestic Violence and Empowerment, Housing Preservation, Adult Literacy, and New York City Communities of Color HIV/AIDS Initiative. In the Asian Pacific American community, where 1 out of 4 live in poverty, these programs are essential in providing services to those who need it the most," said Wayne Ho, Executive Director of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families. "Although these programs were restored, we are disappointed that many were restored at lower amounts that will result in long wait lists and hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers not getting the services they need. We urge the New York City Council to consider the needs of New York City's Asian Pacific American community as they make their final funding designations." "City Council Discretionary Funding supports many community-based, culturally and linguistically appropriate services and programs for vulnerable New Yorkers that would not be available otherwise. It is good news that discretionary funding was restored, and we would like to thank the City Council for the overall increase in discretionary dollars to even more Asian led organizations in FY 2012," said Steve Choi, Executive Director of the MinKwon Center for Community Action. "However, while this is an improvement from years past, it is still nowhere near enough to meet the needs of our communities. We urge the Mayor and the City Council to work towards equitable funding so that Asian led organizations and the communities we serve can receive their fair share of resources. We look forward to continuing our work with the Mayor and City Council in order to gather data, identify resources, and work to meet the need of the growing Asian Pacific American community." |
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