A call to action from the west steps of the state Capitol on Tuesday carried one message for the 60 community members, politicians and children who gathered for the Every Child Matters campaign: Budget cuts are coming, and they’ll hit programs that especially affect children.
When the legislature reconvenes in January, lawmakers will face a $500 million budget gap that they’ll likely close with cuts to early-childhood and higher education — unless Coloradans stand up now, said Becky Miller Updike, director of Every Child Matters-Colorado.
Of the five main categories covered by the state budget — Medicare, human services, K-12 education, higher education and corrections — cuts have already come to the prison system. Education programs, protected during the last legislative session by an infusion of federal stimulus money, are up next, Updike said.
Some school programs are on the chopping block, said state Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton, who also spoke at the “Step Up for Kids!” rally organized by the Tennyson Center for Children’s Every Child Matters program.
Updike said Newell is “doing all she can, but there needs to be a strong call to action outside the legislature.” Updike hopes to muster support from a wide cross section of society to step up and fill the gaps that may be left if funding for children’s programs is cut.
“Kids don’t really have a voice; we need to be their voice,” said Sister Michael Delores, president of the Colorado Foster Parent Association, which provides education programs for foster parents. She also volunteers for Denver’s Children Protection team.
“Every person needs to do something, and this is the route I’ve chosen,” she said.
The Rev. Dawn Riley Duval, who works as a volunteer recruiter for the Jefferson County Department of Human Services, called the state budget “a state conscience.”
“We know that Colorado is financially strapped, but we are encouraging legislatures to be mindful of cutting funds in areas that will really affect children,” she said.
Victoria Barbatelli: 303-954-1698 or vbarbatelli@denverpost.com
Every Child Matters
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