Proposal would cut AMIkids funding
For the second year in a row, the Jindal administration is proposing the elimination of funding for a program that educates public school systems’ worst behavior problems.
The $4.3 million funding cut to what are known as day-treatment programs is part of the $25.5 billion state spending plan that Gov. Bobby Jindal proposed for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
The proposed state operating budget, which is again affected by sluggish revenue, will be debated in the legislative session that starts March 12.
Instead of receiving dollars through the Office of Juvenile Justice, called OJJ, day-treatment program operators are being told to find other funding sources.
“OJJ is following evidence-based practices by emphasizing community-based programs that keep youth in their homes and home schools,” OJJ Deputy Secretary Mary Livers wrote to AMIkids Inc. in a recent letter on the funding cut.
The Florida-based AMIkids receives the bulk of day-treatment funding from the juvenile justice office. The organization operates day-treatment programs in Baton Rouge, Harvey, Bossier City, Alexandria, Tallulah, Lake Charles, Raceland and Donaldsonville.
Livers did not return a request for an interview.
In a prepared statement, she said the services “fall under the responsibility of other agencies.”
AMIkids’ Louisiana regional director Greg Kleinpeter said 900 children a year in the state enroll in his organization’s programs, typically staying six to eight months before returning to their regular schools.
He said participants are referred to the programs by the Office of Juvenile Justice after being expelled or committing a crime.
If funding is cut, the programs could come to an end, Kleinpeter said.
“Unless we find a way to fall under the umbrella of the Department of Education or some other entity, our programs would be eliminated,” he said.
State Sen. Sharon Broome, D-Baton Rouge, said it is ironic that the governor is proposing eliminating the funding at the same he is pushing sweeping changes to public schools.
Among other proposals, Jindal wants to move children in failing schools into private schools at the state’s cost.
She said eliminating the day-treatment program funding could result in students returning to their bad behavior.
“Education is really a launching pad for these young people to improve the quality of their lives and get a vision,” Broome said.
Baton Rouge Community College student Gabrielle Bynum said AMIkids provided the intervention she needed after an arrest for grand theft auto, and expulsions from Tara High School and an alternative school.
Bynum, now 19, said the program operators worked with her to break her rebellious streak. She smiles as she remembers once being kept at the facility copying the dictionary until midnight because she refused to sit still in a chair.
She said the discipline helped, as did incentives, such as an afternoon at the movies or bowling, in exchange for good behavior.
Bynum now is a full-time student with dreams of becoming a pastry chef.
“I could be dead; I could be anywhere. The program really helped tremendously,” she said.
Livers said, in her statement, that “education is the responsibility of local education agencies.”
She said programs should seek funding from local school districts and apply to become Medicaid providers because they offer behavioral health treatment.
“We have worked with the day-treatment providers for the past two years, and we encourage them to pursue these other existing funding streams,” Livers said.