Action for Children North Carolina today announces the release of its children's budget report titled Children in the Federal and State Budgets: A Declining Priority? The report outlines the declines in our federal and state commitments to children in recent years and offers recommendations for how our leaders should address children's issues in a time of economic crisis."Our state and our country rely on investments in programs and services for our children and families. For today's children to grow and become tomorrow's leaders, they must all be given opportunities to succeed," said Barbara Bradley, Action for Children North Carolina's President and CEO. "But in recent years, children have become less of a priority in our budgets. It is especially critical in this economic climate that we invest wisely in our children in order to secure sound futures for them and for our state." 

Over the past five years, in the federal budget outside of defense spending, the share of spending going to children's programs has declined by 10 percent. In 2008, children's spending made up only 10 percent of the federal, non-defense budget. Meanwhile in North Carolina, spending on children outside of health care and public education has declined over the past eight years. Spending on children's services is expected to decline even further this year.
 
Policymakers are being called upon to make difficult spending decisions as they trim budgets. In order to do what is best for children, Action for Children North Carolina says the state must:
•    Reinvest in those programs that have the most positive impacts on North Carolina's children and families;
•    Raise revenues to cover part of the budget gap and reform North Carolina's outdated revenue system for the 21st century economy; and
•    Reform state systems to better incorporate recent research on what works. Modernizing state systems so they support evidence-based programs and practices will require a plan that is collaborative, resourced and Governor-led.

Click here to download Children in the Federal and State Budgets: A Declining Priority?