Included in the cuts:
- $54 million from family preservation and prevention services, including Community Protection and Permanency Planning ($21.8 million to $17.8 million), Teen Parent Counseling, 0 to 3 Secondary Prevention, Family Group Decision-making, the Marriage and Fatherhood Initiatives, the Black Child and Family Institute, and the Michigan Youth Opportunity Initiative.
- $5 million for before and after school programs
- $7.6 million in Community Mental Health funding
- $164 million for K-12 education - A reduction in the per-pupil foundation allowance of $59 per student.
For organizations of whose focus lies on child and family welfare, the news is quite overwhelming. It will be harder than ever this year for non-profits to have the resources necessarily to provide services to low-income children and their families. In a fight for survival, they will be faced with choice: collaborate with other organizations for limited resources, or risking competing against them.
For the Kalamazoo County Poverty Reduction Initiative, an organization founded on the idea of working together for the greater good, the time to collaborate is more vital than ever. The most weighted resources available will now be through larger-scale federal grants and mega-foundations, both of which are rarely accessible to small non-profits.
However, if we combine our efforts and form coalitions that support larger efforts, we can work together to access the deeper pools of funding.
Though the economy may prove times tougher than before, we have a chance like never before to establish relationships which will enhance efforts for the greater good of all. Its time to join arms with regional organizations and give ourselves the best opportunity to succeed.
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I am writing to urge members of Region VI's post-summit coalition to comment on successful collaborations in your region.
At a time when our county, township, and city budgets are being cut, collaboration is the one resource that remains intact. It is not just smart sense, it is increasingly becoming essential that our communities promote and utilize collaboration in their efforts to address poverty in our areas.
This is the mission of the Voices for Action Poverty Summit and the goal of our regional post-summit coalitions: that we unite to address our community's needs with one voice.
In working toward this goal it is essential that you, post-summit coalition members and residents of Southwest Michigan, contribute to the discussions on this blog. What is working in your community? What activities and programs are succeeding?
If we are to make progress on poverty issues in the context of our current environment, collaboration must be sought. It must be developed in new ways, using comprehensive efforts. City agencies must collaborate with faith-based organizations, CAA and DHS departments must unite with neighborhood associations, and non-profit agencies must develop programs with all of these. If our efforts to address poverty in meaningful ways are to succeed, we must speak with one voice, collaborate with a shared mission, and work with a vision for our communities and our region that unites all the many activities in each of our communities that look to help those in need. In these lean times, it is the existing organizations and efforts in our communities that provide us with the greatest resource. Let us use them wisely.
To begin this work, we need your participation. Under each topic of this blog, you will find different themes that need your input and comment. For this topic, we need you to comment on what collaborations are currently working in your area.
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