Wow! What two years will do in the ever changing political world! Not only has the Federal political landscape changed but so has Minnesota’s!
We know that the Republicans now have the majority in both the MN House and Senate for the first time in decades and it looks likely that Democrat Mark Dayton will end up as our next Governor. So what does this mean? Some say chaos, some say gridlock, some say smaller government, and some are even predicting good things will happen. Only time will tell!
What is still clear is that there is a huge budget deficit to fix…probably in the $5 to $6 billion range. We also know that after many years of budget deficits there is no low hanging fruit which means cuts to government supported programs will be deep and sharp even if the Governor and Legislature can come to some agreement on raising revenues.
One thing I do know is that in order to keep the Youth Intervention Program and other youth programming from being severely reduced or eliminated we all have our work cut out for us. What do we need to do, you may ask? For starters I say educate, educate, educate! There are a lot of new legislators out there and it needs to be our job and focus to teach them about the important early intervention work that you are doing for youth and their families in your community. Every one of your legislators need to know you personally and what you and/or your organization does to keep our youth from entering or progressing further into the costly juvenile justice system. Make sure you show them the results and outcomes of your early intervention or Youth Intervention program(s) and personally give them a copy of the Youth Intervention Program SROI (available to download free for members in the Members Only section of the YIPA Web site www.mnyipa.org ).
With the new Republican regime I believe that there will be an attempt to reform and shrink government. This is where all of us can and must help them. We have the research and the outcomes on our side. Using the SROI and other recently completed research we can now show that not only can we save the State money immediately but also in the long term. We can also show them (using the outcome data that the Office of Justice Programs has been gathering from the Youth Intervention Program grantees for the past year) that these programs are effective in changing youths lives for the better. These programs work and we need make sure every legislator (new and old) receives and understands this message.
Between now and the end of the year is the perfect time to meet with your legislators. Call them up and ask for a meeting. Invite them to your organization so they can see firsthand what you are doing for our youth. Let them know your funding issues and the importance of having stable State youth intervention funding that also leverages community funding. Let them know that the funding is very well administered by the Office of Justice programs within the MN Dept. of Public Safety. Get to know these people. Believe me when I say they are legislators because they care and want to help. The trick is to educate them so they want to help you and the youth in the district they represent and serve.
There is no time to lose. As I always say…good things happen to those who show up! Let’s all show up in mass and fight for funding for the Youth Intervention Program and other early intervention youth services.
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