Public Policy Update 9-26-11
As many of you know, the legislative session for 2011 is over and here at UWASC, we are patiently awaiting the season that is set to resume in January 2012. However, now is one of the best times to reach our to legislators and staff about issues and concerns. During the season, members are so inundated with visits and phone calls--its hard to stand out in the crowd. Thankfully, our legislature here in South Carolina is willing to give citizens a platform to do just this...literally stand out in the crowd during the off-season.
In the past two weeks the Joint Citizens and Legislative Committee on Children met three times at different venues around the state to hold hearings to listen to anyone and everyone that had something to say about the children in their community.
On Tuesday, September 20th the JCLCC met at the Gressette Building at the State House for Columbia's hearing. UWASC was happily in attendance and so were many prominent non-profit children's advocacy organizations, such as Children's Trust, First Steps, Sisters of Charity, and HeadStart.
Many active citizens gave heartfelt and moving testimonies. Words that fell on the ears of: Marie Land- Governor Appointed citizen, Derek Lewis- Governor Appointed citizen, Representative Joan Brady-Vice Chair of the committee, Senator Mike Fair- Chairman of the committee, Senator Brad Hutto, Harry Davis- of the Children's Law Center, J. W. Ragley-Director of Legislation and Public Affairs for the Department of Education, Margaret Barber- Director of the Department of Juvenile Justice, Lee Glutton- from the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, Beverly Buscemi-of the Department for Disabilities and Special Needs, Louise Johnson-of the Department of Mental Heatlh, Isabell Blanco- of the Department of Social Services (later joined by Lillian Kohler the DSS Director) and Brenda Martin of the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
One of the hot topics of the evening was early childhood education. Alvin Carter, director of the Richland County DSS relayed startling statistics, including the fact that in 2007 in Richland county 14,000 families were on the food stamp program, and currently there are 28,000. Carter talked about how such an increase in applications has led to a backlog in the system, and at the moment families could wait for a month for their application to be processed and approved. He noted that with most of the families that he deals with in Richland county seeking food stamps or welfare, there isnt a high level of education attainment. In fact, most parents are high school dropouts. Carter drew a direct connection between the status of these families and early child hood education saying "we can pay now...or we can pay alot more later".
Many others talked about a variety of subjects including childhood obesity, cuts to education funding, reforms to DSS and foster care, the importance of community based programs, the success of home visitations.
These type of gatherings and interactions are very important for influencing issues in the community. During this hearing both J.W. Ragley and Senator Hutto asked clarifying and concerning questions about testimonies they had heard. And, it is a certainty that what the legislators have heard from their fellow citizen committee members, and testifying citizens, will be taken into consideration and kept in mind when bills start flowing across their desks. Also, the representatives of the agencies that were present will definitely keep in mind the stories and statistics they'd heard when implementing reform or dispersing their budgets.
We at United Way Association SC encourage every concerned citizen to get involved in this way. Stand out in the crowd, take an active role in the change you'd like to see or an issue you want attention brought to. Dont wait until it's too late! Get out and ADVOCATE.
Caitlin Carey
United Way Assocaition of SC
Public Policy Intern