kinship advocacy in new york state
TRANSCRIPT
February 2011
KINSHIP CARE IN THE NEW YORK STATE
BUDGET
OverviewTHE BUDGET
PROCESS
The Governor proposes a budget (Feb 1)
The Governor can make
amendments (late February)
The Legislature convenes conference committees
(February/March)
The Legislature negotiates with the Division of Budget (Governor’s
representative) and comes up with a final budget
The budget gets passed through the
Legislature (April 1)
The Governor signs the budget (or vetoes) and fiscal year begins
2009-2011THE PAST
$2.75 million (2009-10 budget)funds 21 programs almost to 2010-
11
$922 thousand (2010-11 budget)additional received to fully fund 21
programs to 2010-11
$2.75 million needed in the 2011-12 budget to fully fund 21
programs to 2012-13
THE CURRENT PROPOSAL
2011-12
Pull kinship care programming from the OCFS budget into an Article VII bill (though kinship programming not specifically listed).
Lump kinship care programming together with a variety of other programs (home visiting, runaway youth, Children’s Trust Fund, other juvenile justice programs) to form a Primary Prevention Incentive Program that’s performance-based.
Take the total funding from all of the lumped programs (from last year’s budget) and cut it to 50%.
Leave it to OCFS and communities to determine how to spend the money, including a 38% local match. The only entities eligible to apply for funding are municipalities (local districts).
WHAT IT MEANS ? ? ? ? ? ?
We don’t know what funding level kinship care programming would be funded at (not determined by a line item in the budget, but rather through an RFP process for local districts).
This proposal is for use of general funds, not TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), which had been the previous source of funding.
We don’t know how data collection, evaluation, monitoring would occur in this structure of funding.
We don’t know what would happen to current programs – whether their funding could continue or if they would have to close and later reopen (if the local district applied for funds).
We don’t know why this particular process was proposed since it is not cost-effi cient.
OUR PLAN Starting Today
Off er webinar explaining the current proposal in the Governor’s budget
Develop talking points for providers and talking points for families
Develop checklist for kinship care programs to implement
Develop list of legislators and contacts for each kinship care program
Distribute cost benefit one-pager to kinship care programs
STEP ONE: INFORMATION
Launch website for kinship care programs and advocates to locate information and updates http://www.grandparentsforchildren.org/newyork.h
tml
Collect and distribute community-based information about kinship care to each program
STEP ONE: INFORMATION
Leadership to call all agency CEOs and EDs to ensure advocacy strategies are in place
Staff to contact each program with their program-specific information and get them started on their advocacy work
Albany-based programs and advocates to meet with: Division of Budget Offi ce of the Governor Senate Finance Committee and Counsel/Program staff Assembly Ways and Means Committee and Counsel/Program
staff Senate and Assembly’s respective Children and Families
Committees
STEP TWO: ACTION IN ALBANY
Programs begin utilizing checklist:
Write letter to the Governor Sign on to collective letter to the Governor Meet with local legislators Invite local legislators to visit program Begin letter-writing and phone call campaign with
families Distribute letters to the editor to local
newspapers Additional ideas
STEP TWO: ACTION ON THE GROUND
Begin press campaign, including series of releases and conferences for:
Budget implicationsCensus dataCost-benefit releaseSummit report releaseOther
STEP THREE: PRESS
$ $ $ $ $ OUR MESSAGE
An estimated 250,000 to 300,00 children live with grandparents or other relative caregivers in New York State.
One in ten children live in grandparent-led households. Of those children, 41% are being raised by their grandparents.
Twenty-one programs funded by OCFS provide services to over 5,000 children who otherwise are at high risk of foster care.
New York State spends $1.37 billion annually on foster care services, and less than $3 million on kinship programs.
KINSHIP $AVES
Funding for FY2011-12 needs to be $3 million to fully fund kinship programming.
If the kinship programs are not funded and 60 children enter foster care placements, the cost will equal the entire cost of fully funding the OCFS kinship programs.
Without these programs, an estimated 475 children will leave informal kinship care and enter foster care during FY2011-12, at an increased cost of over $23 million to New York State.
KINSHIP $AVES
Children live with grandparents and other relatives for the same reasons that children enter foster care – parental abuse, neglect, mental illness, abandonment, military deployment and more.
A representative sample of private kinship families shows that 60% of the children in private kinship families served by the programs had histories of potential or possible child maltreatment.
Community kinship programming provides case management, respite, benefit and legal information, advocacy, and other supports, and facilitate enrollment in appropriate services.
KINSHIP SAVES
2011-12OUR ASK
We ask that 10% of the Primary Prevention Incentive Program funding be dedicated to kinship programming (potential of $3.5 million).
We ask that the PPIP be funded without a local match and allows for current programs to continue operating, rather than incurring the cost and lost experience of closing and reopening programs.
OUR ASK
WebinarsKEEPING IN TOUCH
Each week, you’ll receive an eNewsletter with updates from New York State.
Each week, we’ll host a webinar to update advocates and programs, field questions, and demonstrate new materials.
Each day, we’ll update the website with any new information available.
Each week, staff will contact each program to ensure they have the support they need to get through the checklist.