In their push to protect mandated services, many agencies are cutting back on preventive programs—those aimed at addressing small needs before they become big ones. Such programs are premised on the idea of spending some money up front to prevent larger problems – and costs – down the road. The bill for eviction prevention is lower than for a stay at a homeless shelter, for example, and family counseling is cheaper than putting a child in foster care. But preventive programs are rarely mandated, and agencies that focus on the needs of lower-income New Yorkers came under particular pressure in the latest round of budget cuts.
“Social services tend to be looked at as non-core programs,” says Maria Doulis, a senior research associate at the Citizen’s Budget Commission. “Every program has its own constituency, and the greatest public outcry tends to be about education and police. Social services fall lower on the scale.”
Certain aspects of the mayor’s proposed $58.8 billion budget, released on the last Friday in January, bear out that assertion. While the police, fire and corrections departments all cut about 2 percent of projected spending, their budgets still exceed the FY 2010 baseline adopted by City Council last June. On the other hand, agencies like the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), which cut 6 percent, and the Human Resource Administration, which cut 8 percent, are spending well below their baseline budgets. Children’s and homeless services also account for almost 95 percent of projected city layoffs for FY 2010 – not counting 13,930 teachers, whose threatened jobs may yet be saved by the state or federal governments.
All of this is part of a plan to bring the remainder of FY 2009 budget into balance, and to close the $6.4 billion budget gap looming next fiscal year. The mayor’s proposal forms the basis for rounds of community board feedback, City Council hearings, and other refinements that will occur before the budget is approved by early June.
Losing Capacity
ACS insists that the eventual loss of 842 staff members – 608 from layoffs – will not affect front-line casework or preventive services like mental health counseling and parenting classes. Outside the agency, though, some worry that the layoffs will reverberate. “It’s a significant number of positions, and those people must be supporting the efforts of the child protective workers,” said Stephanie Gendell, associate executive director for policy at the Citizen’s Committee for Children. “We’re concerned about the impact, but don’t know what it will be.”
During previous attempts to shore up New York’s finances, city agencies focused on relatively painless savings through administrative cuts and attrition. Last November’s budget did eliminate some preventive programs, such as the Fortune Society’s discharge planning services for detainees on Riker’s Island, which aim to reduce recidivism. That particular program was axed by the Mayor’s Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator. This time around, broader cuts to preventive programs, as opposed to personnel, include:
