Letter to the Editor: Westchester's Campaign for Kids Seeks Funding

To the Editor,

In her capacity as Chair of the Campaign for Kids, a coalition of more than 50 non-profit organizations and individuals concerned with creating and sustaining strong community-based youth development programs for Westchester youth, Cora Greenberg, executive director of Westchester Children’s Association, has submitted a FOIL records request to the County.

The request was prompted by a prolonged selection process in which the County delayed notification by more than a month to the programs that applied. The concern by members of Campaign for Kids was the impact the county’s procrastination had on the many families who rely on afterschool tutoring, and leadership programs to keep their children safely and productively occupied. Some programs were forced to suspend activities, reduce the number of young people served, and furlough or even lay off staff. In addition, funding was discontinued for a number of programs that had been successfully serving youth over many years, and these decisions have not been adequately explained.

Among the many items requested are:

• A list of all agencies that applied for Youth Bureau funding and the programs they proposed.
• ​A written explanation of the criteria that was used to review and evaluate proposals, especially if these differed from the criteria published in the Youth Bureau’s 2014 RFP.
• For each program request: Community to be served, Target population, The need to be addressed and proposed interventions/activities.

On Monday, February 23rd at the County Board of Legislators’ regular meeting, the Committee on Community Services will introduce legislation aimed at providing continuing funding to those programs previously funded by the Youth Bureau but not funded in the 2015-17 cycle. Greenberg is encouraging programs that didn’t receive funding to attend and speak during public comments. Those groups who did receive funding are encouraged to attend in order to support the unfunded programs and to urge greater transparency and accountability in the allocation of public funding for youth services.

Joan Grangenois-Thomas

Media consultant

Westchester Children’s Association

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