Kids in Crisis, a quiet non-profit in Cos Cob founded 37 years ago, fulfills a very big mission. They take in children who need a safe place to stay for whatever reason. What began as a shelter for runaways and abused children has become not just a place for children to stay, but offers a wide network counseling and support programs for youth from Greenwich to Bridgeport. It is very important work that goes necessarily unreported. We may not want to think about it, but what happens to children when their home becomes violent and they fear for their safety? They need a safe place to go where there is counseling and where they can be protected. That is Kids in Crisis.
So what is the crisis? As was reported previously, Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) has eliminated $750,000 in Kids in Crisis funding. This is on top of the $900,000 in state support eliminated the previous year. With an annual budget of $5 million, approximately $3 million of which is raised from private sources, taking away 40 percent over 18 months is a pretty big hole to fill.
While this caught our attention, what we found most disturbing was how DCF has treated Kids in Crisis. The funding eliminated in July was for a four-year contract that had been signed on July 1, 2015. Why have Kids in Crisis spend valuable time preparing the contract if the state was going to cancel it two weeks later? That was time Kids in Crisis could have spent seeking other funding sources.
Shari Shapiro, the executive director of Kids in Crisis, is realistic about her situation. She knows the money is not coming back and is already seeking other avenues of funding. What is unclear to her, and to many others, is why the DCF will not meet to discuss how they can work together as a public/private partnership to help children who are at their most vulnerable. Every year between 110 and 130 children come to stay at Kids in Crisis. The average stay is three weeks. At any given time, three-quarters of their 20 beds are occupied. All told, Kids in Crisis has provided counseling and support to more than 6,100 children and families.
Why wouldn’t the state want Kids in Crisis to succeed and help as many children as possible? Why wouldn’t the state want an emergency shelter for children in Fairfield County? Why would DCF say meeting to discuss how best to work together with Kids in Crisis “would be a waste of everyone’s time”? This last notion is most disturbing, as it demeans and belittles all the good work Kids in Crisis has done, and it is unprofessional.
At first we thought it might be a political snag. Our entire Republican delegation sent a letter to Hartford expressing outrage at the funding cut. But then U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, and newly elected Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim, also a Democrat, expressed their displeasure as well. Honestly, we don’t know what the answer is. DCF has long been plagued by accusations of mismanagement. Perhaps it’s that mismanagement coupled with our state’s financial crisis that is unjustly putting our youngest and most vulnerable residents at even greater risk. Something must be done.
Shari Shapiro’s passion for helping children and families is infectious. We want to help, and we want you to help as well. Next week in this paper you’ll find an envelope. We encourage you to make a donation to Kids in Crisis and send it back in the envelope provided. Let us, as a community, show Kids in Crisis that we believe in their mission and that they have our support. We understand the very valuable services they provide, and we want to ensure that those services are available to any child or family in Fairfield Country.
