The State Budget Cuts &

The Effect on Children and Families

Tennessee Respite Network:

• As of July 1, 2009, thousands of individuals and professionals statewide will no longer be able to access a dedicated hotline to find respite resources in their area -- this means:
   

·         Without access to respite supports, more children are likely to be placed in group homes or residential settings

·         Without access to respite supports, more vulnerable adults will be placed in nursing homes

·         Without necessary respite, more caregivers will become burned out, placing a strain on an already maxed out adult service system

·         Marriages will be negatively affected by increased stress related to caregiving for a vulnerable adult or child with special needs

·         Without access to support, it is likely that family discord will increase under more stress

·         Research shows that home-based care is the most effective; without access to this type of support, the individuals receiving care that are placed in nursing homes or residential care facilities will not be as healthy as when they were at home

• As of July 1, 2009, hundreds of  families with children with emotional and behavioral disorders will no longer have access to respite subsidy – this means:
   

·         Stress will increase with families

·         Increased stress leads to a higher risk of abuse of children

·         With fewer options for support, more children will end up in state’s custody

·         Marriages will be negatively affected by increased stress

·         With fewer options for support, families of children with complicated needs will become more socially isolated

Statewide Family Support Network:

The SFSN is receiving a cut of $100,000 from its 2009-2010 budget, approximately 1/3 of the SFSN program.  As this program provides a unique service to families in all 95 counties of the state, these cuts will result in a significant negative affect on the children, youth, and parents served across the state:

·         Nearly 3300 less families will receive direct staff support for IEP, 504 and disciplinary meetings, juvenile court hearings, DCS Child and Family Team meetings, and appointments regarding mental health services

·         Over 25,000 less individuals receiving training on topics that improve their skills, increase their knowledge and enhance their ability to work for the well being of children and families

·         Significantly reduced number of booths and exhibits providing information on TVC, fact sheets on mental health and related issues, and how providers and families can work collaboratively

·         Increased calls from families seeking community resources and supports but decreased ability to meet those needs

·         Increased calls from professionals (schools, case managers, juvenile court, etc.) seeking community resources and supports but decreased ability to meet those needs

Early Childhood Programs:

As of July 1, 2009, Tennessee will lose the two Early Childhood Network community-based system of care programs in Maury and Rutherford counties in operation for more than nine years.  As of July 1, 2010, Tennessee is scheduled to lose the Early Childhood Consulting Program, Tennessee Voices for Children established in 1996 and providing training and technical assistance services each year to more than 800 teachers serving over 7,000 children associated with more than 200 child care, Head Start, pre-k and early education programs across the state.  Prevention and early intervention services for young children and their families are an especially cost-effective means of addressing problem behaviors before they become more serious.   The impact of immediate and prospective cutbacks in Tennessee’s limited system of mental health services for young children must be considered in view of the following well-established body of evidence:

·         Approximately 10-15% of all typically developing preschool children have chronic mild to moderate levels of behavior problems.  Children who are poor are much more likely to develop behavior problems with prevalence rates that approach 30%.

·         Preschool children are three times more likely to be “expelled” then children in grades K-12.   Boys are over 4.5 times more likely to be expelled than girls. 

·         Children who are identified as hard to manage at ages 3 and 4 have a high probability  (50:50) of continuing to have difficulties into adolescence

·         When aggressive and antisocial behavior has persisted to age 9, further intervention has a poor chance of success.

·         Students with serious emotional disturbance miss more days of school than do students in all other disability categories.  More than half drop out grades 9-12, the highest rate for all disability categories. Three to five years after dropping out, the arrest rate for youth with serious emotional disturbance was 73%.

·         In the absence of comprehensive, effective prevention and early intervention, many children with significant problem behaviors in early childhood face futures in which they are rejected by peers and teachers, abuse drugs, engage in gang membership and violence, drop out of school, and continue into adulthood with long-term, chronic disabling conditions.

TeenScreen Program:

The TeenScreen program funding for East and West Tennessee was cut as of January 1, 2009, and the program now faces losing the remainder of its funding.  As of July 1, 2010, schools across the state will no longer be able to access the mental health screening and case management provided through the TeenScreen program, which means:

• Youth will continue to struggle silently due to untreated mental health concerns, resulting in increased suicide attempts, impaired behavioral functioning, and decreased academic success
   
• Students will lose a safe outlet for expression of suicidal ideation/attempts and be less likely to report such thoughts or actions
   
• Stigma that surrounds mental illness will persist both at school and in the community, decreasing the likelihood that a youth/family will seek mental health services
   
• Students with mental illness will continue to have the highest dropout rate of any disability group
   

Family Connection

The Family Connection provides intensive in home services to prevent placement of youth with complex needs outside the home, stabilize current placement, and facilitate reunification/permanency.  This program has had over a 90% success rate in placement stabilization and nearly 0% recidivism for enrolled youth involved in the juvenile justice system.

 The program is likely to lose funding in 2010 due to the cuts to the state budget, which will have a significant negative affect on the children and families that we serve.  Potential effects include:

·         Youth at risk of placement outside the home and their families will have decreased access to assistance in securing both formal and informal supports that effectively meet the families’ needs and keep youth at home, in school and in the community.

·         There will be less opportunity for both foster and biological parents to receive the education and support necessary to become effective advocates for at risk children and youth.

·         A decrease in caregiver support in navigating the complex mental health, child welfare, juvenile justice, and education systems.

·         Increase in negative behaviors by at risk children and youth in the school system, which will negatively affect academic success and increase out of school suspensions /expulsions.  

·         Increase in children and youth entering state custody due to lack of support for caregivers and inaccessibility of resources.

·         Increase in child and youth negative behaviors in the community and home that will result in an increase in delinquent charges and stays in detention.

·         The lack of available skill building for caregivers and youth on behavior management, effective communication and other necessary skills could lead to an increase in negative behaviors in the home and community. 

·         An increase in placement disruptions (both in foster and biological homes) as caregivers cannot access resources and training necessary to manage behaviors in the home environment.

·         Increased gap in services that are community based and evidence based or informed which are imperative for the success of both the child/youth and their family. 

·         Increase in caregiver stress that will result in less effective decision making and potential increase in negative behaviors, juvenile justice and child welfare involvement and placements outside the home. 

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TN Voices for Children