Washington, DC, May 28, 2024– DC Action is appreciative to the DC Council for greatly improving the FY25 budget, so far, to better support investments in our children, youth, and families. But there is still more to do.Â
Specifically, we are grateful to DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson for restoring $280 million to the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund. We also appreciate the Council’s mark-up of additional, multi-year funding for the Home Visiting Services Reimbursement Act of 2023, the Nurse Family Partnership Program, and CFSA home visiting programs; and for protecting the increased funding for out-of-school-time programs.
At the same time, this budget sends a message that the District doesn’t care about the thousands of young people who are experiencing homelessness. Funding for the organizations that serve these youth has remained completely flat, even as youth homelessness has dramatically increased. Despite the pleas of young people for more mental health support, the District has consistently failed to invest in these services. We know that many young people experiencing homelessness are fleeing domestic violence are raising their own children, and that the longer they are homeless, the more likely it is they will be homeless as adults. Yet the District has no plan to end youth homelessness and will not consider creating such a plan.Â
We cannot allow competing priorities to drown out the clear needs of our children and youth. The DC Council must consider the well-being of all its residents and the impact that its actions–or inactions–will have on our children and youth for generations to come. We urge the members of the DC Council to further strengthen this budget by closing the funding gap with an additional $17 million to keep its promise to early educators and to raise revenue equitably to address housing insecurity for families and youth. Â