Seeking Conclusive Evidence
Preventive programs are particularly vulnerable to cuts because of their often less tangible benefits. "When government cuts back, prevention programs can be at risk because short-run savings are immediate, while long-run costs may be hard to measure and hard to see," said Mark Greenberg, a poverty researcher and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington.
Some preventive services may work better than others. In the case of housing services for people living with HIV, there is evidence that a simple subsidy program without additional case management services is quite effective, according to Prof. Dennis Culhane, a specialist in homelessness policy at the University of Pennsylvania. Even for more generalized homelessness prevention programs, city decision makers have few hard facts to go on when making budget decisions. “We don’t have conclusive evidence to say whether in tight times a city should move its money towards prevention,” said Culhane. “I personally think we should move in that direction, especially since so much money is put into long-term shelter stays.”
It remains to be seen whether city government will use the budget crisis to redefine some core social services in a more preventive light. City Councilman Bill De Blasio, chairman of council’s General Welfare Committee, has scheduled a hearing in March to review potential cuts to prevention services, especially in the Department of Homeless Services. In that area at least, a new push for preventive emphasis may come from the federal government. Both the House and Senate versions of the evolving stimulus bill have provided $1.5 billion for homelessness prevention services, including rental assistance, legal help, and conflict mediation—but not for more traditional forms of assistance like emergency shelter. New York City stands to receive a sizable portion of that money, potentially making up for cuts in homelessness prevention programs like HomeBase.
Correction: Last summer, more than 100,000 young people applied for 43,113 positions in the SYEP program -- not 16,200, as previously reported. The latter number is the subset funded by the city, rather than by federal and state sources. 2/10/09
