Agencies say proposed NAP changes will harm four local agencies
H-T Report
December 26, 2006A group of Bloomington agencies say proposed changes to the Neighborhood Assistance Program will significantly harm four local agencies:
In a letter sent to Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman, state Sen. Vi Simpson, state Rep. Peggy Welch and state Rep. Matt Pierce, 12 Bloomington community agencies say the changes will result in significant cuts to:
• Monroe County United Ministries, which would be forced to cut eight children from its nationally accredited, sliding fee-scale child-care program. This would result in the removal of 18 percent of the children, mostly from urbanized areas, who utilize the sliding fee option.
• The Bloomington Area Arts Council, which would need to reduce programming access for 2,500 economically disadvantaged youth and low-income senior residents of Monroe and surrounding counties. These youth would miss the positive link between youth arts exposure and higher SAT test scores, reduced dropout rates and decreased disciplinary problems at school.
• Middle Way House, which uses NAP resources to leverage the HUD funds that sustain The Rise, the transitional housing program that has been recognized as effective in assisting very poor, homeless women and children successfully reintegrate into the mainstream community in the aftermath of traumatic violence. A cut in fundraising potential would threaten the leveraged funding and, therefore, the program.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central Indiana, which will see a reduction in staff and volunteer time totaling 3,272 hours. This drastic decrease in service hours will primarily touch the amount of time spent assisting each child and supporting volunteers. More than 60 hours each week will be lost under this proposed change. About 15 children a week will lose the ability to work with a mentoring adult.
The Neighborhood Assistance Program is administered by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.
The letter also raises the following concerns:
• The ability of strong agencies to adequately serve the community will be artificially limited by the proposed guidelines.
• The new rules may work against the state’s interest in ensuring that NAP resources are used in the most effective manner.
• The period to comment on the proposed rules does not allow thorough analysis of the impact of these significant program changes.
The letter asks that implementation of the guidelines be delayed for one year.
“We believe the ability of strong agencies to adequately serve our community will be artificially limited by the proposed guidelines,†the letter states. “In Monroe County, four agencies were authorized to sell the maximum of $50,000 during 2006. We feel confident that all will reach that goal.â€
The letter says during 2007, those agencies will not again be eligible for $50,000. Under the proposed thresholds, the expected cuts will have significant negative effects on the Bloomington community.
The agencies signing the letter are Rhino’s Youth Center, Middle Way House, Martha’s House, Community Kitchen of Monroe County, Bloomington Area Arts Council, Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, Hoosier Hills Food Bank, People and Animal Learning Services, Shalom Community Center, United Way of Monroe County, Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central Indiana, Monroe County United Ministries and WonderLab .