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Indianapolis Star
7 days ago
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
Boys & Girls Club of Indianapolis faces $335K funding cut. Here's what is being affected.
Federal funding cuts are impacting the Boys & Girls Club of Indianapolis (BGCI), costing the organization thousands of dollars to support proper staffing, but the organization says its summer camp is still on. The Indianapolis branch of the national Boys & Girls Club of America told IndyStar that it has seen an approximate loss of $315,000 to $335,000 in funding due to cuts at the federal level to the AmeriCorps agency and 21st Century Community Learning Center grants. Cuts to the AmeriCorps agency have already been impacting organizations across the country, but cuts to the 21st Century grants are still being considered under Trump's "skinny" budget. While the budget bill has not been finalized, some organizations are making preparations for the funding cuts anyway. However, despite this significant reduction in the organization's funding, it plans to open its doors at its five club sites across the city for its five-week summer camp program this year. Pam Lozano, director of resource development for the Boys & Girls Club of Indianapolis, told IndyStar that the cuts mean their five school-site programs will have to be closed. Those sites include Enlace Academy, Johnathan Jennings School 109, Raymond Park Middle School, Liberty Park Elementary School and Pleasant Run Elementary School. More news you should know: Hogsett, IPS names members of group shaping the future of the district. Who they picked 'We feel this impact because we are losing team members who support yearly in varying spaces, but we are also losing members who are in AmeriCorps as future educators, social workers, etc,' Lozano said. 'We know we are meeting a challenging time ahead, but our clubs will be open, we have worked hard to create a plan where we shift and focus on ways to be sure that any funding cuts aren't felt at the club level.' The funding cuts mostly stem from the Trump administration's move to eliminate funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant, which is the only federal funding stream dedicated to supporting afterschool and summer programs for children, according to the After School Alliance. Lozano said the club is losing around $315,000 with the grant gone. The Indianapolis organization is also possibly losing $120,000 from AmeriCorps funding, which helped fund staff positions and mentors at Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide. AmeriCorps announced in late April that they were suspending $400 million in grants, which has resulted in more than 1,000 programs shuttering and affecting 32,000 AmeriCorps members across the nation. Lozano said the loss of the AmeriCorps funding has resulted in the most immediate impacts to their programming with the loss of mentors who provide one-on-one support for kids and scaling back specialized programs such as literacy tutoring, college prep and mental health services. 'This is more than a financial setback, it's a call to action,' Lozano said. 'Every young person deserves the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive in a safe, supportive community.' Keep up with school news: Sign up for Study Hall, IndyStar's free weekly education newsletter. The Boys & Girls Club of Indianapolis has served more than 7,300 youth annually, with the majority of them qualifying for free or reduced lunch, according to the organization's website. The local club is asking the community to donate money or volunteer their time to ensure their programming can continue.
Axios
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Education Department cuts threaten summer learning programs
Uncertainty over Education Department funding won't go on vacation when the school year ends because the cuts also threaten vital summer learning programs. The big picture: Summer learning programs are essential for kids and working parents alike because federally-funded programs offer enrichment, academic support, social interaction and basic needs, like access to healthy food. "For every child that's in a program, there's a parent of at least one more that wants their kid to be in a program, but they don't have access," Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant said. Her group anticipates an "an even larger shortage of summer learning." Driving the news: Organizers are "very uncertain and anxious" about hosting summer programs while facing upheaval at the Education Department and broad spending cuts, Grant said. While the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program — a critical funding stream that supports summer, afterschool and before-school programs — remains intact, the first Trump administration repeatedly pushed to eliminate it. "I'm worried that when it comes to cuts, unless we have a separate funding stream that explicitly goes to afterschool and summer, those programs get cut before any other education programs," Grant said. Zoom out: The Education Department's halt to pandemic aid reimbursement extensions approved by the Biden administration is already hitting summer and afterschool programs. Education Secretary Linda McMahon alerted state education chiefs in a March 28 letter that the previously prolonged spending period would end that evening, but individual projects may get extensions. Department spokesperson Madi Biedermann called the Biden administration's decision to extend the spending deadline "an irresponsible precedent" in a statement to Axios. She said extensions would be considered "on an individual project-specific basis where it can be demonstrated that funds are being used to directly mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on student learning." Zoom in: For Baltimore City Schools, that meant it would lose around $48 million in reimbursements for funds spent or committed, it said. As a result, it halted tutoring and after-school programs that were funded with pandemic money. The "catastrophic" end to reimbursements, Maryland officials said, jeopardizes more than $400 million for the state's schools and education department. What they're saying: In Baltimore, an estimated 12,000 seats will be lost for summer opportunities this year compared to last year, said Ellie Mitchell, director of the Maryland Out of School Time Network. And it's not just in Baltimore where the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund clawback is being felt, she said, with several districts "saying no summer programs at all." Even with potential extensions on a program-by-program basis, Mitchell said that without funding in place by Memorial Day, "there's just no way we will recover this summer." Dismantling the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps — who often work as camp counselors — will further disrupt summer programs, she noted. "The environment is retrenchment, so everyone is just trying to protect the spaces that they can and being incredibly cautious and conservative about where they are spending money," Mitchell added. In South Dakota, changes in federal funding caused the cancellation of career exploration summer programs hosted on college campuses throughout the state. According to the South Dakota Board of Regents, the program served 1,800 students from 2022 to 2024. The bottom line:"Administrators are holding a lot on their shoulders right now," said Billy Mawhiney, the executive director of the South Dakota Afterschool Network.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Local organizations' leaders scramble to assess how federal funding freeze could have impacted region
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Leaders of local organizations were still scrambling Wednesday to determine how any potential pause on federal grants and loans could impact the region, a day after a federal funding freeze was blocked by a judge's order and on the day the memo ordering the freeze was rescinded. 'It's a good possibility all of this will give us some serious issues,' said Flood City Youth Fitness Academy's executive director, Oscar Cashaw. The community center in downtown Johnstown has a 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant that provides federal funding for academic, artistic and cultural enrichment opportunities for students. At FCYFA, that includes science, technology, engineering and mathematics classes, tutoring and related programs, Cashaw said. FCYFA also is provided a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant for an after-school food program for about 150 youths that visit the academy daily, as well as federal dollars for employee programs. Cashaw said the back-and-forth on the freeze was a 'ball of confusion,' but despite the complex situation, he intends to do what he can to keep the center open. He credited the support of local nonprofits, the 1889 Foundation, the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, Lee Initiatives and the United Way of the Southern Alleghenies. The funding uncertainty was created by a memo issued Monday by the Office of Management and Budget and little clarity from White House officials following the announcement. Federal agencies were instructed to 'temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders' to 'complete a comprehensive analysis' of all programs. The goal, according to the memo, was to advance priorities that focus on creating a stronger country, boosting energy and manufacturing, ending alleged ''wokeness' and the weaponization of government,' efficiency in government and related endeavors. Officials in President Donald Trump's administration had said programs providing direct assistance to citizens, such as Medicare, Social Security, student loans and food stamps, would not be affected. The Office of Management and Budget rescinded the memo Wednesday, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt took to social media shortly afterward to say Trump's executive orders on federal funding reviews remain in effect. 'This is not a rescission of the federal funding freeze,' she wrote on X. 'It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo. Why? To end any confusion created by the court's injunction. The President's (executive orders) on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.' The freeze was put on hold Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan minutes before it was scheduled to take effect, due to a lawsuit brought by nonprofit groups that receive federal funding. Attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia also filed suit in an attempt to permanently stop the administration from cutting off federal funding. 'Volatile day' One of the many areas that could be impacted by a funding freeze is education, including regional Head Start programs. In Cambria County, those early childhood education programs are operated by the Community Action Partnership of Cambria County. There are 13 classrooms serving 335 children, CAPCC Executive Director Josh Yoder said. When news broke about the funding freeze memo, Yoder said, CAPCC management met to formulate a plan that could have meant closing classrooms and furloughing employees. 'We were looking at the possibility of having to lay off 85 people throughout the agency,' Yoder said. That would have been a significant impact on an agency that has 126 total employees. 'Yesterday was a pretty volatile day in our world,' Yoder said. Michael Dadey, Greater Johnstown School District's assistant to the superintendent, said the matter has 'caused uncertainty for school districts across the nation.' Greater Johnstown's operating budget is significantly supplemented by federal funding due to low local tax revenue. 'This is a very fluid situation,' Dadey said. 'Greater Johnstown plans to stay informed as details evolve and maintain close communication with the Pennsylvania Department of Education to understand potential impacts on their funding and operations to the school districts.' Uncertainty Karen Struble Myers, president and CEO of the United Way of the Southern Alleghenies, said there was a lot of uncertainty about what any freeze would mean and what programs and offerings it would impact. She said that federal dollars often flow down through state agencies before being distributed on the local level and that how the process would be affected by a freeze is unclear. The United Way, for example, has U.S. Department of Agriculture funding that pays for a local food resource coordinator, nutritional education, and supplemental assistance to groups such as FCYFA and the Cambria County Backpack Project. The four-year grant was provided in 2022, and Struble Myers was concerned that a freeze could be detrimental to the program and translate to missing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars, she said. 'With smaller nonprofits, losing a federal source of funding is the difference between serving people and shuttering,' Struble Myers said. She said she was concerned about how a potential freeze could affect 'basics' for people. 'All of the things you need to be a healthy community could be affected,' she said. She said the local United Way manages emergency food and shelter funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency through the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. Those dollars are then provided to United Way partner agencies including the Next Step Center, the Women's Help Center, Catholic Charities and more. 'I'm concerned we're weaponizing poverty and equity,' Struble Myers said. 'I really think there is a far-reaching impact on basic needs.' 'Domino effect' Officials in Cambria and Somerset counties were also unclear on potential impacts to their operations. 'Cambria County is working to take appropriate steps to pull down funds to ensure that services continue until the federal grant freeze is resolved,' Cambria County President Commissioner Scott Hunt said. 'Cambria County is currently identifying programs where the freeze may possibly impact county operations. We remain optimistic that the federal funds that impact county operations will be reviewed and restored.' Potentially affected services included a DNA grant for the Cambria County District Attorney's Office, domestic relations and social service agencies. Hunt said the county was 'awaiting further clarification from the administration regarding the potential impact of the freeze,' but he remained confident operations would be unaffected. Somerset County Commissioner Pamela Tokar-Ickes said a freeze could bring 'everything to a screeching halt.' She said that in reviewing the county's budget for 2023-24, there were 19 different line items that could be affected – that's more than $16 million in federal funding. In addition to social services such as Children & Youth Services, a freeze would likely affect efforts to expand U.S. Route 219, Tokar-Ickes said. Expansion of broadband internet service in Somerset County was another potentially affected area, she added. 'The domino effect of that simple OMB order ... was really earthshaking,' Tokar-Ickes said.
