In response to the public funding crisis facing nonprofits that serve children and families, we have compiled the following information, including a short list of relvant reports and advocacy organizations, prefaced by an overview. The material will be updated on a regular basis. We welcome your feedback and comments on its usefulness.

Overview

Across the nation, the public funding crisis for critical human and social service programs is the worst it has been since World War II. The crisis is affecting nearly every state and local jurisdiction in the country and is driven primarily by the downturn in the economy and by state and federal tax cuts. In addition, citizens and legislators have turned their attention and spending decisions to homeland security and war. The aggregate total for state deficits nationwide is expected to reach $90 billion in fiscal 2004, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers.

In the National Capital Region, the projected budget deficits are astronomical:

District of Columbia: $323 million

Maryland: $1.3 billion

Virginia: approximately $2 billion

The DC Council recently approved a 2003 budget that will cut public school funding by roughly $29 million and social services funding by $54 million. Maryland Governor Ehrlich’s budget proposes a 23% reduction in funding for child care. Additional cuts would include a decrease in funding for the Maryland After School Opportunity Fund by $5 million. In Virginia, funds for pre-kindergarten have been cut by $2 million.

It is safe to assume that throughout the National Capital Region and beyond a disproportionate share of the deficit will be borne by programs—many run by nonprofits—serving the developmental, educational, and safety needs of vulnerable children, youth, and families. In many instances, substantial cuts to these programs could be disastrous.

Over the last two decades an increasing number of nonprofit organizations have taken on tremendous responsibilities for serving the needs of the poor and disenfranchised, and a huge portion of the funding for those programs comes from government dollars. Therefore, cuts in federal and state funding to programs for children, whether after-school, Americorps, or other areas, are posing a daunting challenge to our investment partners and, therefore, to VPP. We fully recognize that in this environment we must work closely with our investment partners to deal head on with the public funding crisis. We also recognize that our collective power is great—helping our partners join the public policy debates is a key strategy towards changing the flow of capital to nonprofit organizations that serve children. The goal of this advocacy is to rectify the extreme under-capitalization of quality programs provided by our investment partners and other organizations in the National Capital Region. To that end, we have identified some leading thinkers in the area of public funding and have aggregated some of the most pertinent reports and articles on the subject.

Advocacy Organizations

Alliance for Justice
http://www.afj.org/
The Alliance for Justice is a national association of environmental, civil rights, mental health, women's, children's and consumer advocacy organizations that works to advance the cause of justice for all Americans, strengthen the public interest community's ability to influence public policy, and foster the next generation of advocates. See the link to the Alliance's brochure below.

Children's Defense Fund
http://www.childrensdefense.org/
The Childen's Defense Fund (CDF) provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves, paying particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. Through its programs, extensive information resources and advocacy efforts, CDF aims to ensure every child has a healthy start, head start, safe start, and moral start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.

DC Action for Children
http://www.dckids.org
DC Action for Children (DC ACT) is an independent nonprofit, multi-issue advocacy organization dedicated to improving conditions for children and families in our Nation’s Capital. It works to gather and provide accurate information about conditions and policies affecting children, to empower and mobilize a city-wide constituency to become involved in improving the lives of the city’s children, to hold public officials accountable, and to advocate for systems reform.

Every Child Matters Education Fund
http://www.everychildmatters.org
The mission of the Child Matters Education Fund is to promote the adoption of smart policies for children and families by making children’s needs a national political priority. In addition to their recent poll on public views of the administration's tax cut and budget policies, the website also features a report describing the elements of what a ten year, $100 Billion-plus investment strategy in kids might look like, including full funding for proven policies in pre-school education, child abuse and neglect, child health and after-school programs.

FightCrime: Invest in Kids
http://www.fightcrime.org
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a bipartisan, nonprofit anti-crime organization led by more than 2,000 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors, victims of violence, and leaders of police officer associations. Their mission is to take a hard-nosed, skeptical look at the research about what really works—and what doesn't work—to keep kids from becoming criminals and then to put that information in the hands of policy-makers and the public. See the link below to FightCrime's research brief on the impact of proposed cuts in school funding.

Forum for Youth Investment
http://www.forumforyouthinvestment.org/
The Forum for Youth Investment is dedicated to increasing the quality and quantity of youth investment and youth involvement by promoting a "big picture" approach to planning, research, advocacy, and policy development among the broad range of organizations that help constituents and communities invest in children, youth, and families. To do this, the Forum is committed to building connections, increasing capacity, and tackling persistent challenges across the allied youth fields. See the link below to the testimony of the Forum's executive director, Karen Pittman, regarding the 21st Century Community Learning Center budget cuts.

Afterschool Funding Cuts

Jacobsen, Linda. “After-School Report Called Into Question” Education Week. May 23, 2003
"A study that influenced President Bush to recommend a big cut in spending for a federally financed after-school program has serious flaws, according to a statement by seven members of the study's technical working group. The first-year report on the 21st Century Community Learning Center program, conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, has ‘methodological problems that call into question its findings and that violate basic principles governing how evaluation should be used to guide policy and affect program budgets,’ the statement contends.” Note: requires free registration to EdWeek.

Fox, James Alan, et al. 40 Percent Cut in After-School Funding: America's Lost Opportunity to Prevent 41,000 Crimes and Save $2.4 Billion. FightCrime: Invest in Kids, February 27, 2003.

The After-School Corporation (TASC) supported an independent evaluation of afterschool programs that differs greatly from the Mathematica findings. In order to better understand why Mathematica's evaluation generated findings that differed from PSA's, TASC has prepared a comparison of the two studies that examines each study's research design and methodology, sampled programs, and outcomes.

Reports/Statements

Every Child Matters Education Fund. Mason-Dixon National Poll Views of the Administration's Tax Cut and Budget Policies Versus Large New Investments in Children and Families. March 6, 2003.

Pittman, Karen J. Research, Public Policy, and Public Ideas: The Importance of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers' After-school Programs as a First Step toward System Building.
Testimony to US Congress regarding the 21st Century Community Learning Center budget cuts. March 7, 2003.
PDF file

Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington. Statement on the Fiscal Crises Affecting Greater Washington. March 6, 2003.
Word file

Alliance for Justice. Support Grantees That Lobby, And You Know What Will Happen? PDF file

Articles

Beadle, Andrew D. "Some Youth Programs Get Nice Slice, Others 'Out of the Pie' " Youth Today. March 2003.

Broder, David S. "The Squeeze on Our Children." The Washington Post. March 23, 2003. Note: Requires purchase from The Washington Post.

Butterfield, Fox. "Lifeline for Troubled Oregon Teenagers Is Imperiled by Planned U.S. Cuts." The New York Times. March 9, 2003. Note: Requires purchase from The New York Times.