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Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum Joins in to Protest City Cuts to Programs, Calls on Pataki to Support Legislature’s Restoration of State Cuts
Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum is continuing her fight against proposed child welfare preventive service cuts. She joined parents and advocates in front of the Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service to protest cuts to programs that enable parents to keep children out of foster care.
Gotbaum used the opportunity to call on Governor Pataki to support the State Legislature’s restoration of $18 million the governor proposed to cut from the preventive service budget. “I hope Governor Pataki understands the great importance of preventive services and realizes the implications of cuts on both families and the budget. On behalf of the thousands of families who receive preventive services, I urge the governor not to veto the funding restoration to these programs. The cost of a veto will amount to breaking apart families, to pulling kids out of their homes and placing them in foster care.”
One parent who spoke out at the press conference held on Wednesday, May 7, 2003, said: "With help from the Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service, my daughter, her father and I got the help we needed. Before, we used to argue all the time. My daughter’s father and I were constantly in court and he was always threatening me. Now, we know we have to work things out for our daughter. If they cut services like this one, it would be really bad for families like us. We received so much help."
Donna A. Santarsiero, Executive Director, Brooklyn Bureau of Community Service also spoke out against the cuts. "A cut in preventive services would be the cruelest cut of all. When children are separated from home, the trauma and damage have profound and lasting effects. The proposed cuts would mean that more than 200 children would not receive the Brooklyn Bureau's intensive social services and homemaker services. For over the past 25 years more than 95% of the children we served remained at home safely with caring parents.”
The group is protesting budget cuts that could reduce funding for preventive services by as much as $40 million in the city and the state, affecting 30,000 children. Preventive services include homemaking services, counseling, parenting assistance, assistance with basic needs such as income supports and education
Mayor Bloomberg has proposed cutting preventive services by nearly 18 percent. Gotbaum called the cut a “misspent measure,” saying “It just doesn’t make sense. The city will pay dearly for these cuts. They are proposing $6,000 worth of cuts per family in exchange for $17,000 worth of foster care costs per child,” continued Gotbaum. “The $22 million worth of cuts only amount to a $7.9 million in savings for the city because of a 65-35 percent state match.”
Advocate’s support Gotbaum’s assertion that cuts to preventive services will have an immediate and costly impact on city and state budgets. "The alternate costs are tremendous. If 100 children enter foster or other custodial care, the financial cost is many millions of dollars – $2 to $6 million per year - or more. At the Brooklyn Bureau we can serve 100 children and their families for about $250,000,” said Ms. Santarsiero.
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