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In the face of a ferocious economic downturn, Sharon Anderson has a bold proposal. She recently asked the state Legislature for an extra $1.2 million to help fund
But with state-budget builders bracing for a tough year and with red pens at the ready to cut programs, state-funded crisis babysitting might not make their list of priorities. Yet Anderson, executive director of one of the centers—the Family Connection Center of
“This is not daycare,”
The League of Women Voters of Utah opened the first
“We’ve had people who have lost their homes and left their kids while they made alternative arrangements,”
“It’s like a buffer between families and [Department of Child and Family Services],”
But the centers’ ability to provide child care at critical moments has been stretched thin.
“It costs the state up to $48,000 to pay for one child in foster care for one year. If each family-support center kept two kids out of foster care, then we’d pay for the [requested] $1.2 million,”
Anderson and her colleagues appeared Nov. 19 before the interim Health and Human Services committee. It was a passionate pitch but, sadly, was only one of many by various groups looking to grow community health initiatives. Committee members wore long faces, hearing one well-intentioned request after another. One request was for $250,000 for pilot funding of a well-researched community health service.
“I’m all for community health initiatives, but I wish you could help us out by finding an extra $250,000 to make up for the program,” said Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, while shaking his head. “You should know this year is going to be worse than the last.”
The support centers’ leaders made a rushed pitch to the committee at the end of a long legislative day before the proud women stepped into the hall, excited and optimistic about their case.
Esterlee Molyneux, director of the
“More families are under stress due to the economic situation, more families need help,” she said. “What we do—prevention—saves the state money, so although [it costs the state more now], in the long term, we will literally save millions and millions of dollars for the state of