The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: What the 2010 Children's Budget Tells Us

SparkAction

Danielle Evennou

July 29, 2010

Are we as a nation spending less on programs to benefit children and youth than in the past? To answer that question, we first need to know how much federal spending goes to children and youth. On July 14, 2010, First Focus held a Children’s Budget Summit to inform and galvanize advocates, policymakers, the media and the public. Here are some take-aways.

Washington, DC—On July 14, 2010 the nonprofit advocacy organization First Focus held a Children’s Budget Summit to release its annual Children's Budget report and address the declining share of federal spending on programs that benefit children and families.

At the event, First Focus President Bruce Lesley referenced the western movie, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (starring Clint Eastwood). Lesley's analogy is an interesting one.

Let's start with "the good." The good news is that the Obama Administration is proposing a 10 percent increase in total spending on kids. This is reflected mostly in large, mandatory programs that provide healthcare and/or nutrition, like the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This is confirmed by another newly-released report, Kids' Share 2010—which cites Medicaid as having the highest outlays of all spending on kids for 2009. Tax programs, such as the Child Tax Credit, made up another huge portion of federal spending on kids in 2009.

Which brings us to "the bad." Although the Obama Administration proposes to spend more dollars on kids, the portion of spending on kids is not growing as fast as the overall budget. In other words, kids are getting a smaller piece of the overall funding pie.

And then there’s "the ugly." Congressional gridlock means it is highly unlikely that there will be opportunities this year to greatly improve upon the projected federal funding streams for kids in the coming years. Hopes for education reform through the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, also known as No Child Left Behind) are dwindling.

In Congress, the Administration's proposed Early Learning Challenge Fund and American Graduation Initiative became subtle sacrificial lambs to healthcare reform.

There is hope, however, in the area of child nutrition with possible overhaul of school meals, as part of First Lady Michelle Obama's efforts to help make this generation of America's kids a healthier one.

Why This Matters

Now more than ever, it is critical to get a handle on how much the federal government is spending on children. In order to maximize the funding levels that exist, we need to first know where the money is going and whether or not it is actually making a positive change in a young person's life.

This was the key point that Senator Bob Casey made in his speech accepting the Champion for Children Award. (Casey was one of four annual recipients including Heather Higginbottom of the White House Domestic Policy Council, Senator Dick Lugar and Senator Blanche Lincoln).

"Kids are worth more than less than a dime out of a dollar," says Senator Bob Casey, father of four daughters. To convey the significance of the Children's Budget, Senator Casey (a self-confessed Bruce Springsteen fan) quotes the Boss’ song "Kingdom of Days."

"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you I do

You whisper "Then prove it, then prove it, then prove it to me baby blue."

(Need a Springsteen fix? Get the full song on YouTube.)

To Casey, the lyrics demonstrate that we have to be accountable for our "love." Of course, everyone believes children should be given the supports they need throughout their development in order to thrive and be successful adults, or as Senator Casey put it "a solid foundation."

Clearly, building a "solid foundation" requires that we know how much is being spent on efforts affecting children and young people, track outcomes, and hold elected officials responsible for following through on funding commitments.

According to Casey, it's better to be an "informed warrior." I couldn't agree more.

To read more about the proposed budget for children, visit First Focus’ report, Children's Budget 2010.

To check out the 2009 expenditures, check out Kids' Share 2010 Report on Federal Expenditures on Children through 2009. This report was commissioned by First Focus and produced by the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

What about Your State?

Children’s Budgets are not just for tallying Uncle Sam's spending. In recent years, the States of New Mexico and Tennessee and several cities including Washington, DC, and San Francisco have created children's budgets.

In fact, New Mexico has served as a frontrunner in this work by annually tracking funds for kids in the state according to broad outcome areas, such as “children and youth are healthy, educated, safe, supported and involved.” To take the work one step further, New Mexico’s Children’s Budget links funding information to well-bring indicators for each outcome area. This lets policymakers and the public compare levels of investment with real data that tracks outcomes for kids.

New Mexico's report card (pdf)
Tennessee's report (pdf)

For more information on how to create a Children's Budget in your state or community, check out the Forum for Youth Investment's materials:

Adding It Up -- Brochure, Rationale and Guide to Mapping Public Resources for Children, Youth & Families.

Tools to Make the Case - with the Right Communications & Messaging

The Summit also included two sections on communications and messaging, and we've pulled together a quick box with the tools, presentations and our own video on recent research on messaging in child advocacy!