Conference Committee approves all pending increases for youth violence prevention funds

Source: Lewis Finfer for the Safe Teens/Safe Communities Coalition
Date: 2008/07/07

Dear Colleagues,

  We had good news in the House-Senate Conference Committee as the higher amounts passed for the youth violence prevention budget line items passed in all 4 cases!!!

   Congratulations are due to your organizations and your members for all the meetings, calls, letters you organized and attended that made the difference in these results.

   What follows is a summary of the results of our campaign for this year and next steps (why does there always seem to be next steps?!!!):

1. DPH Youth Violence Prevention Program--a $1.5 million increase, from $2 million up to $3.5 million
2. Shannon Anti-Gang Violence Grant Program--a $2 million increase, from $11 million up to $13 million.
3. YouthWorks Jobs for Teens Program--a $1.5 million increase from $6.7 million to $8.1 million
4. School to Career Connecting Activities--a $250,000 increase to $4.379 million
5. After School Out-of School Time Program (ASOST)--a $3.5 million increase from $2 million to $5.5 million

And yes, what are those next steps
1. Thank the legislators who you think helped our efforts
2. If you are involved in DPH, Shannon, or ASOST applications, we will let you know when the applications come out, but this will be during July.
3. We will begin again our efforts to influence what Governor Patrick files in his budget for next year, during the fall.
4. If you are interested in becoming a formal member of the Safe Teens/Safe Communities Coalition, please let me know. Membership involves committing to work for youth violence prevention funding based on what you can do regarding meetings, calls, letters, to your legislators. There are no membership dues at present.

Thanks again for your work and commitment on these issues of importance to youth, families, and communities.