The budget that will be handed to incoming Mayor Adrian Fenty will be a step in the right direction to addressing the needs of D.C.’s 40,000 poor children, according to an independent analysis.
A study by the nonprofit D.C. Action for Children (ACT) found what it calls “major wins” in the 2007 budget: $2 million to expand Medicaid for children, a doubling of school health funding and a new legal requirement for the District to determine what programs help prevent child abuse and neglect.
“There is some amazing news for children and youth, but there’s still a long way to go,” said Susie Cambria, deputy director of pubic policy for D.C. ACT.
More resources still are needed to assist the city’s poor children. More than a third of D.C.’s children live in poverty, and more than half of the children who live on the east side of the Potomac River live in poverty.
Total funding for child- and youth-related services was $2.2 billion, or $20,000 per youth under age 20, according to the analysis. Most of the money, 59 percent, is spent on public education.
The report also addressed the District’s first-ever Children’s Budget, designed to identify where and how much the city spends money on children.
While the Children’s Budget provided some valuable information, it lacked details such as how the budget plans to achieve agency and citywide goals, the total number of children and youth eligible for a program and line item funding for programs.
