Hudson Freeholders Oppose Defunding of School Based Youth Services Program

Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders a resolution strongly opposing the Defunding of School Based Youth Services Programs in the state’s fiscal year 2021 budget

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Hudson County– Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders approved a resolution strongly opposing the defunding of school based youth services programs in the state’s fiscal year 2021 budget.

     The Governor of the State of New Jersey has proposed in his budget to defund the School Based Youth Services Programs under the Department of Children and Families for fiscal year 2021.

     The School Based Youth Services Programs throughout the State of New Jersey provide critical mental health counseling, employment counseling, substance abuse education and prevention, health awareness, primary medical linkages, learning support, healthy youth development, recreation, and information and referral to local community resources.

      The defunding of these critical programs throughout the State will impact hundreds of thousands of youth in need.

     The impact on these youth will be even worse given Covid-19 and the mental health crises that are occurring for children at all ages as a result of the pandemic.

     The schools, who are also struggling to deal with Covid-19, remote learning and safe in-classroom learning, will lose a critical resource for their students.

     These funding cuts to the School Based Youth Services Programs throughout the State will disproportionately impact the minority populations in schools.

     In the County of Hudson, the following schools provide School Based Youth Services Programs:  Bayonne High School; Union City High School; Harrison High School; Hoboken High School; Kearny High School; Henry Snyder High School in Jersey City; and Union Hill Middle School in Union City.

     Freeholder Chairman Anthony Vainieri and the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders strongly oppose the defunding of the School Based Youth Services Programs.