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Jun 22, 2009 6:04 pm US/Eastern
Children's Trust Facing Serious Budget Shortfall
Budget Cut By 30 Percent
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Imagine if your household budget was slashed by a third, you'd have to make some pretty significant changes just to survive.
The Children's Trust has now found itself in that position and the cuts it will be forced to impose will have an impact on the children they serve in the community.
Modesto Abety, President of the Children's Trust, said the first four years of their operation, which began in 2002, were phenomenal. Fueled by new construction and steady growth in the tax base, the Trust's budget grew by 16.5 percent annually. But in the last couple of years, Abety says he's watched as the times have changed and made a significant impact on his budget. Just two years ago, the Children's Trust was budgeted at $160 million. Last year, their budget shrunk to $142 million and this year the agency is only budgeted for $116 million; a difference of $26 million in just a year.
"It's a very significant amount of money. It's upwards of 30 percent of our budget is gone," said Abety.
Because of the budget shortfall funding for some of the 300 programs that the Children's Trust supports will be cut. In a few cases, funding will be cut altogether.
"We are looking at every program, every budget and make those cuts that will have the least impact on children," said Abety.
A junior marine biology camp, just one of about 14 YMCA camps that receive funding from the Children's Trust will be impacted by the cutbacks. Usually, about a thousand children attend the camps over the summer. Now those numbers will have to be reduced because the Children's Trust plans to cut it's funding to the camps and after school programs by 15 percent.
"It means fewer services for kids over the summer. Less opportunity over summer camps, and fewer kids in after school programs," said Abety. "It may mean fewer kids who get help from tutoring; it may mean fewer who attend field trips or martial arts classes might need to be curtailed."
Most of the programs that will be getting less from the Children's Trust have other sources of funding. While that means the programs will continue, they may be forced to serve fewer kids. That would mean a long hot summer for some of the kids enrolled in the YMCA program who said if they didn't have the camp to go to, they would probably just stay home and watch TV.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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