News
Use Monroe funds for children wisely
By Carolyn Lee-Davis and Sarah Liebschutz
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
December 28, 2006
As adults, we recognize the intrinsic value of caring for children. As a community, we must recognize that our future is dependent upon them.
The 2007 Monroe County budget recognizes this by maintaining essential services for children, but there are opportunities to do even better:
Our analysis finds that the county is overly reliant on foster care placements for troubled children and families. Appropriations for foster care are increased by $14 million and are now the single most expensive children's item in the county budget. However, for most families, home- and community-based services are more effective at resolving problems than foster care and less costly. We recommend that the county reduce the dollars spent on foster care, providing the service to only those families who truly need it to keep their children safe and only for as long as necessary, and reinvest the saved dollars in more effective programming to benefit children.
For example, there are programs being implemented by the county that are evidence-based, proven to be effective. These programs can prevent child abuse and neglect and strengthen troubled families. Such programs in the 2007 budget include the Nurse Family Partnership, Multi Systemic Therapy and Functional Family Therapy. Additional investments in these and other proven programs would further strengthen our children and community and likely save even more dollars.
Our analysis finds that there is insufficient staff to deal with reported cases of abuse and neglect of children. Reports of child abuse and neglect have risen by 14 percent since 2003, but during this time there has been no increase in staff. We are aware that new and committed leadership at the Monroe County Department of Human Services has begun to assess this situation, but the current budget does not remedy our significant concerns for children's safety. The county must find a way to increase staff immediately in order to protect these vulnerable children.
Our analysis shows that funding for subsidies to help low-income, working parents afford quality child care has been decreased for the second year in a row. We understand that this is due to a perceived decrease in demand for such subsidies, although the demographics that determine need in our county have not changed substantially, and research has repeatedly demonstrated that high-quality child care can improve many important outcomes for children - including school performance. The county must develop and implement a policy to provide maximum access to high-quality child care for low-income working families.
We commend County Executive Maggie Brooks and her administration for their continued commitment to children. Now, with their leadership, we must begin to achieve effective solutions for these challenging problems for our children and our future. We look forward to working with the county and others to do that.
Liebschutz is board president, The Children's Agenda, an independent, non-partisan organization that works to promote policies and practices to improve the well-being of children in Monroe County; Lee-Davis is a policy analyst, The Children's Agenda.
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