Cut can leave needy boys, girls clubless

Officials seek other funds

Children arrive at the Boys and Girls Club of Western Benton County in Siloam Springs after school Wednesday. The club lost about $50,000 because of federal budget cuts.
Children arrive at the Boys and Girls Club of Western Benton County in Siloam Springs after school Wednesday. The club lost about $50,000 because of federal budget cuts.

— Boys and Girls clubs in Northwest Arkansas are adjusting budgets and plan to seek grants and donations to continue a program that allows the centers to waive fees for poor children.

Club officials said they hope to continue accommodating children who became members through an 18-month project funded through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Grants from the federal program that enabled the project end Jan. 31.

“We would really need thecommunity to rally around the club,” said Jacob Hutson, chief professional officer of the Boys and Girls Club of Benton County. “This is obviously a significant hit to our budget annually and ongoing for the future.”

The Boys and Girls Club of Benton County is losing $115,000, or about 7 percent of its annual budget, because of cuts in federal funding to the needy families program. The loss amounts to about $50,000, or a little more than 10 percent of the annual budget, for Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Benton County (a separate entity), and $33,000,or about 2 percent of the annual budget, for the Boys and Girls Club of Fayetteville.

“We’ve brought additional kids to the club,” said Chris Shimer, chief professional officer of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Benton County. “A lot of clubs are faced with a dilemma. They’re serving more children, but their funding is being cut.”

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program originated with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 as part of a federal effort to move families from welfare to work, said Kimberly Friedman, spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services. Arkansas receives $56.7 million each year from a block grant through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its Administration for Children and Families.

The program is meant to provide low-income families with assistance such as wage supplements, child care, transportation, and education and job training through the state’s Transitional Employment Assistance program, the state’s welfare program, Workforce Department officials said.

Since 1996, Arkansas was among 17 states receiving additional funding through a supplemental grant for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, said Phil Harris, assistant director of the state’s welfare program.Congress allowed the supplemental grants to expire but extended them through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The supplemental funding, which was converted to stimulus funding, provided $6.2 million annually.

The stimulus funding allowed the state Workforce Department to provide nearly $2 million of the $6.2 million to a statewide allianceof Boys and Girls Clubs for a community-based program for children. The money covered the program from Aug. 1, 2010, through July 31 and was extended through Jan. 31 with $1 million from a federal block grant.

With the federal funding ending after January, directors of the Boys and Girls Club of Benton County are evaluating expenses and have cut budgets for supplies and training, Hutson said. About 730 families, or about a quarter of the club’s membership, were eligible for the program. And while that increased the membership rosters, the bulk of the increase came from nonpaying members, he said.

“There’s a continued need for those kids to attend the Boys and Girls Club,” he said.

New members could participate in all programs, including character and leadership development, education programs for finishing homework, and health and fitness programs at no cost to their families, he said. Boys and Girls Club of Benton County charges $40 per school semester for memberships.

Shimer anticipates realizing the funding loss in the early spring. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families money came in monthly installments, with the final payment in January, he said.

“It won’t be felt all at once,” he said. “It’ll be absorbed into our budget.”

Shimer and his board planned the budget for 2012 without the federal money, which had allowed the organization to waive membership fees for needy children. Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Benton County charges $40 for membership and an afterschool program.

“Our commitment is to those children,” he said. “We’re going to do what we can to make up the difference.”

As most any nonprofit would do, Shimer plans to apply for other grants and seek donations from businesses and partners of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Benton County.

Shimer estimated that more than 250 children participated in programs at the Gravette and Siloam Springs units as a result of the federal grant program. Nearly threequarters of children in afterschool programs were part of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program in Gravette, as were 65 percent of the children in after-school programs in Siloam Springs.

“It allowed us to serve more children who needed us,” he said. “When we can get children in our building on a consistent basis, we can help them. It was a blessing that we had [the grant funding].”

About one-third of the 3,585 children involved with the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club were eligible for the federal funds, said Jerry Glidewell, executive director of the club. The annual membership fee costs $10, and the club charges $18 for each major sport for children aged 6 to 18. He did not provide theamount of federal funds the club received.

The club is working on a possible grant that will fill the void from the loss of the funds for 2012, Glidewell said.

“Our board is committed to keeping our doors open and serving kids at the lowest cost possible. ... The kids who need us most can’t afford increases in membership costs or fees,” he said.

The impact to the Fayetteville club is not as great as others, but $33,000 in a $1.5 million budget isn’t easy to replace, said Eric Schuldt, its chief professional officer.

“We are preparing to handle that budget cut within our existing operations,” Schuldt said. “We’re going to go out and seek additional funding.”

Children involved in the Boys and Girls Club of Fayetteville as a result of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families money will continue to be a part, Schuldt said. Membership costs $60 a year, though a large percentage of children are on a scholarship program and their families pay nothing.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 12/22/2011

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