President Trump’s FY 2020 Budget Would Devastate CPC’s Federal Grants

CPC serves over 60,000 community members annually, and we rely on New York City, New York State, and Federal government funding to build social and economic empowerment in our communities.  Because this funding is so central to meeting the needs of our communities, CPC is deeply concerned about the proposed FY 2020 federal budget, and how cuts would hurt the most marginalized communities we serve. 

We partnered with FPWA, an organization we are proud members of, to use their open-data tools from FPWA’s Federal Funds Tracker to analyze the impact of President Trump's FY 2020 budget proposal on the federal grants that CPC relied on in FY 2018. The Tracker’s open data tools also make it easy to visualize the cuts that many of these grants have already faced since FY 2010 as a result of federal austerity. This historical context is critical to make the case that any budget agreement should not only reverse course on the planned cuts included in Trump’s budget, but should also meaningfully invest in the woefully underfunded programs that serve our communities. Use FPWA’s Take Action tool to contact your NYC-area Members of Congress today!

IMPACT OF PRESIDENT TRUMP’S FY 2020 BUDGET PROPOSAL

Although the President’s budget (released in March 2019) is non-binding, it is still of great concern because it is a statement of the federal government’s national priorities. Moreover, the President’s insistence on his budget numbers could make it harder to reach a bipartisan budget agreement on overall funding levels, and unless such an agreement is made before the coming fiscal year (which begins on October 1), these deep proposed cuts could become reality.

If enacted, President Trump’s FY 2020 budget proposal would cut the federal grants that CPC relied on in FY 2018 by 42 percent, or $2.5 million.

FPWA analysis of CPC FY18 audit data. Because audits run a year behind, our analysis examines FY20 proposals on CPC’s FY18 federal grants

The deep cuts to CPC's federal grants are a result of Trump's proposal to eliminate the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), and Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), and to cut several grants that support services for older adults. Child Support Enforcement (CSE) and Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) would each receive increases of approximately one percent.

FPWA analysis of CPC FY18 audit data. Because audits run a year behind, our analysis examines FY20 proposals on CPC’s FY18 federal grants

TRUMP’S BUDGET AMOUNTS TO “CUTS ON TOP OF CUTS”

Trump’s vision for 2020 extends the economic pain that has endured throughout this decade into the next. In large part, disinvestment since FY 2010 is due to the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA), which set caps on defense and nondefense discretionary funding through 2021 and further reduced funding over time through across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration. In part as a result, social service grants to New York City have declined by more than $300 million since FY 2010 after adjusting for inflation.

These cuts are magnified for Asian American and Pacific Islander organizations, and other organizations led by and serving people of color, because we already receive a disproportionately low share of social services funding. Asian Americans are 15% of the New York City population and growing, yet we receive less than 2% of City social services dollars. That means that these proposed cuts will hit the organizations that serve these communities, like CPC, even harder.

FPWA analysis of CPC FY18 audit data. Because audits run a year behind, our analysis examines FY20 proposals on CPC’s FY18 federal grants. It is possible, therefore, that grants and/or amounts have changed. 

WHY FEDERAL GRANTS MATTER – STORIES FROM OUR COMMUNITY

Ningxi Pan came to the US in 2016 knowing very little English and was placed in the 9th grade two years older than most of her classmates. The age and language gap made assimilation challenging. By joining the Chinese-American Planning Council, Inc. (CPC) LEAD program at the High School for Dual Language and Asian Studies — which provides academic, cultural and recreational programming for youth, and is supported by the Community Services Block Grants (CSBG) — Ningxi was able to improve her language ability, explore New York City, and significantly improve her grades, including earning high marks on the Geometry and Global History Regents exams.

Across the City, CSBG supports a wide range of community-based activities to reduce poverty and has already fell by 14 percent ($5 million) since FY 2010.

These federal funding streams are critical to ensuring that CPC and other community based organizations can continue meeting the needs of, advancing, and transforming our communities. We have to be a part of the fight for a federal budget that puts our communities first!

TAKE ACTION TODAY!

Click here to send an email to your member of Congress and ask them to reach a new budget agreement that not only reverses course on the planned sequestration cuts but also increases support for the woefully underfunded programs that serve low-to middle-income families

FY 2018 FUNDING OVERVIEW

In FY 2018, CPC relied on 15 federal grants ($5.9 million) to support the needs of their communities and attract and retain qualified staff. Like many nonprofit human service providers in the City, federal grants are often passed through from City agencies (see the Tracker’s Budget Basics for more on the federal budget process). Not included in this analysis are direct assistance grants that are passed directly to individuals from the federal government, such as the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps – both of which face deep cuts in the President’s FY 2020 budget. While CPC does not distribute these benefits, we do help members of their community navigate enrollment.

Two grants accounted for 61 percent of all federal grants in FY 2018: The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) accounted for 31 percent ($1.8 million) and the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) accounted for 30 percent ($1.7 million).

Each of the remaining ten grants represented no more than seven percent of all federal grants in FY 2018: The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), WIOA Youth Activities, and Social Services Block Grant (Title XX, SSBG) each represented seven percent, or less than $400,000.

FPWA analysis of CPC FY18 audit data. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training (SNAP E&T) (1.9%), Supportive Services and Senior Centers (OAA, Title III, Part-B) (1.2%), Child Support Enforcement (CSE) (0.6%), Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) (0.2%), Aging Research (0.1%).

DEEPER DATA DIVE

See FPWA's Tableau workbook to visualize the impact of Trump's budget proposal on each of the four agencies featured in Tracker: Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), Department for the Aging (DFTA), and Department of Social Services (DSS).