|
|
|
In face of federal cuts, Philly defunds workforce assistance programs
Philly's share of federal Community Development Block Grant funding for fiscal 2013, beginning July 1, has been slashed to $38.3 million. "These are enormous cuts, so you just can't keep doing all the things you were doing," said Mayor Michael Nutter's spokesman, Mark McDonald. "You've got to decide. Something's got to go."
In face of federal cuts, Philly defunds workforce assistance programs
Philly's share of federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for fiscal 2013, beginning this July 1, has been slashed to $38.3 million. That's down from $71.8 million in fiscal 2002, and $46.2 million in fiscal 2012."These are enormous cuts, so you just can’t keep doing all the things you were doing," said Mayor Michael Nutter's spokesman, Mark McDonald. "You’ve got to decide. Something’s got to go."
"Block Grant" means the city decides what goes — and they're not yet letting the public in on what, exactly, will be cut. But Donna Henry, executive director of Southwest Community Development Corp. informed City Council last week that she's been told to anticipate an end to CDBG funding for her group's workforce training program as of this November."We see almost 400 people a year and work with a shelter for men that doesn't have any job counseling services, and meet with them once a week," she told CP. "But the Commerce Department told us they're eliminating employment counseling." She said she currently gets $44,000 in city-administered CDBG funds to help residents in the impoverished neighborhood.
McDonald said that the potential cut in funding to Southwest CDC, along with two other groups — The Lighthouse, Inc., and Parkside Association of Philadelphia—represents a "strategic" shift in the where the city is distributing economic development funding.
"The Commerce Department has notified all three groups that it anticipates further funding limitations in the upcoming year and advised them to prepare for the possibility that this is the final year of the program," he told CP via email. "Commerce is proposing eliminating funding for what is described as 'non-core programs.'" They'll be focusing on "financial and technical assistance to micro and small businesses, commercial corridor revitalization and Community-Based Organization development programs. Commerce is not strategically programming or funding workforce programs."
As CP has reported in the past, federal cuts affect a range of services, including housing and economic development efforts. But the city isn't yet saying what else will go. Office of Housing and Community Development spokesman Paul Chrystie told CP via email: "no decisions have yet been made regarding specific cuts to specific programs."
- ActiVman
- adventures
- Arts
- Ask A Man-About-Town
- Award Tour
- Awards
- Bad Idea Factory
- Beer
- Below the Curve
- Bikes
- Booze
- Brian Hickey
- BRT
- Budget
- Budget Fuss
- Business
- Casinos
- City Council
- City Hall
- CouncilMANIC
- CP Abroad
- CP in the Community
- Criminal Justice System
- Day Tripper
- Death and Taxes
- Delaware River
- Design
- DROP
- Drugs
- Dubious Distinction
- Elections
- End of Days
- Environment
- Fashion
- Film Fest
- Financial Meltdown
- FrackTrack
- Free Library
- Gambling
- Gay Stuff
- Get Lit
- Greenstorming
- guns
- Hall Monitor
- Health
- Health Care
- Hello, Kitty
- Holidays
- Ice Cubes
- Iggles
- Immigration
- In Memoriam
- Labor
- Lawsuits
- Letters
- LGBTQ
- Maps
- Marcellus Shale
- Media
- MMA
- Mummers
- Music
- MUST READ
- Mysterious Mysteries
- Nation
- News
- Non Sequitur
- Opinion
- PA politics 2010
- Parking Wars
- Parks and Recreation
- People Send Us This Stuff
- Philadelphia Police
- Philadelphia Union
- Philaphemera
- Philly From Scratch
- philly madness
- Photos
- Poverty
- PPA
- President Obama
- Print Edition
- Prisons
- Protest
- Readers Write
- Real Estate
- Rock Bottom
- Schools
- Science
- Screwing Philly
- SEPTA
- snow
- So Lush
- Soccer
- Sporting Life
- Sports Complex
- State Politicians
- State Politics
- Street Art
- Strike
- Stuff We Like
- Taxes
- Taxi Drivers
- Tech Fetish
- television
- The Budget Crisis
- The City Paper
- The CLOG
- The Human Condition
- The Mayor
- The Phightin Phils
- The World
- Things that make you go hm
- Tinfoil Hats Off
- Under the Table
- Under the Tables
- Urban Development
- Urban Planning
- urban wildlife
- Video Poker
- We Call Shenanigans
- Weather
- Web Junk
- Weekend Omnibus
- White House
- What We've Found
- Women's Issues
- Flyered Up!
- How 'Bout That Weather?
- it's always sunny in philadelphia
- Stu!
- Shopping
- get out
- 10-track mind
- ArtsFlash
- Bloggity
- Bruce Being Bruce
- Colleges
- Comedy
- Gigantic Surprises
- Hello Canary
- Hello Puppy
- errata
- get lost
- Inside The Fishbowl
- Library Closings
- Local Support
- Movies
- Murder
- Night Moves
- Recycling
- radio
- Scientology
- Sex
- Sixers
- Skeeze Police
- State Politicians Screwing Philly
- That's a cool stencil!
- Theater
- Things We See
- This Week
- This Week in Oates
- University City
- WIN
- What we don't heart
- trailer!
- what we heart
- Feeling Guilty
- Askadelphia.
- Broke in Philly
- Contest
- Dance
- Dear Paper Doll
- Do A Good Thing
- Education
- Film Fest Schism
- G20-20 Vision
- Goodbye
- Gossip
- Great American Heroes
- PATCO
- Pearl Jam Week
- Puppy
- Stars of the Photostream
- sustainability
- Lower Merion Webcam-Gate
- The Cycle
- Equality Forum
- Bureaucrat of the Week
- Animals
- ElectionEar
- Photostream
