PCCY - Public Citizens for Children and Youth

Lest readers think the state budget crisis is over simply because our elected officials announced that it’s over, let me tell you how the crisis continues to be felt at the neighborhood level.

This afternoon I attended a meeting of child care providers from around the city who gather regularly to address shared concerns. Often discussions tackle issues like how to make the bureaucracies providers interact with more responsive to their needs. Sometimes they focus on the quest to obtain affordable health insurance for the child care sector. Once a year the group holds a gala luncheon for hundreds of child care practitioners, at which they honor programs that have met higher quality standards over the past year.

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PCCY Issues Statement on ‘Mixed Bag’ State Budget. Stimulus Funding Reduced, But Good For Kids

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(Philadelphia, PA) September 23, 2009 – Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY), releases a statement on the Pennsylvania state budget agreement:

As most Pennsylvanians know, legislative leaders and the Governor’s office reached agreement last week on a framework for the 2009-2010 state budget. They are working to draft a line-item budget and a number of bills that must be passed before this budget can be enacted. This process is expected to take about two weeks.

PCCY urges legislators to continue to work with a sense of urgency to pass a budget based on this framework, as the halting of state revenue to local agencies has had a devastating impact on essential services for children and families. The longer we wait, the more vulnerable they become.

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