January 31, 2013

City Budget Proposes to Cut Over $217 Million From Programs For Children!

Earlier this week, the Mayor released his Preliminary Budget proposals for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2014, which included $217.9 million in net reductions to city funds for critical programs for children and families.  This includes over $135 million in cuts to child care and after-school programs.

The Preliminary Budget cuts critical programs for children and families, such as services and shelter for runaway and homeless youth, the Teen RAPP program, mental health services for children under 5, and child health clinics.  In addition, the Preliminary Budget proposes to close part of the budget gap by having children pay more for their school lunches.  Read CCC’s chart detailing all of the budget cuts to programs for children and families.

Notably, the City Preliminary Budget proposals failed to baseline over $120 million the City Council restored for child care and after-school programs in Fiscal Year 2013 and actually proposes additional cuts of $15.3 million to child care and after-school.  This would result in the loss of child care and after-school programs for over 47,000 children.  CCC will be working closely with the Campaign for Children to fight these devastating cuts.  You can read more about one of the after-school programs slated to lose its city funding in this New York Times article.

CCC will be working hard to prevent these cuts.  Be sure to look out for e-advocacy letters, upcoming rallies, and other ways that you can join the fight! And be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more updates.

You can learn more about the City Budget process in this City Budget 101 document created by CCC.

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City Budget

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