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Youth will lose $450,000 By BILL KETTLER Jackson County children will pay a price for the Legislature's new commitment to invest in Oregon's youngest residents. Legislators slashed funding for existing teens' and children's programs to pay for Gov. John Kitzhaber's new Children's Plan, which focuses on children under age 8. The cuts will mean about $450,000 less for 39 programs in Jackson County over the next two years, said Carin Niebuhr, director of the Jackson County Commission on Children and Families. The Children's Program will bring some new money to Jackson County for programs to cut alcohol and drug use in families with young children. The Legislature allocated about $12 million statewide for drug and alcohol prevention, which could bring as much as $700,000 to Jackson County. But funding will be cut for many programs that keep older children out of trouble, Niebuhr said. "They'll have to commit a crime or get pregnant to qualify for help." Legislators slashed funding for existing programs that serve children over age 8 by 30 percent. They also cut funds for existing programs that serve children under age 8 by 9 percent. "The reality is we're going to be significantly cutting back services to children over 8 in a variety of programs that have been successful," Niebuhr said. The cuts will affect a wide range of services, including Jackson County's treatment program for juvenile sex offenders, OnTrack's substance abuse treatment program and Planned Parenthood's program to reduce adolescent pregnancy. Community Works will have about $70,000 less for its programs, said director Arnie Green. Community Works programs include youth counseling, parent education and victim counseling. "I can't say right now which services will be cut," Green said, "but a significant number of young people won't be receiving services." The Children's Plan expands the Healthy Start program into all of Oregon's 36 counties at the expense of Jackson County and others that already had Healthy Start. Jackson County's social service community expected to see some funding reductions, but the cuts grew dramatically in the last days of the Legislature, said Jim Adams, chair of the Jackson County Commission on Children and Families. "Through most of the session we were expecting about 12 percent," he said. "Then it was 20 percent; then it was 30 percent. "To fund Healthy Start statewide was a very expensive proposition," Adams said. "They only had so much revenue." Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.