Schumer: Local Mentorship Program That Pairs Grandparent Mentors With 1st & 2nd Graders Would Be Harmed If Federal Grant Funding Is Cut; Schumer urges Feds To Protect Program Needed To Supplement Schools' Staff & Resources To Help Focus On Each Child's Individual Needs

Press Release

Standing at Van Duyn Elementary School, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today launched a major push to protect federal funding that provides support to a local program critical to helping children in the Syracuse Central School District. Schumer explained the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill currently awaiting debate in the House of Representatives would slash funding for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) by over 40 percent. The CNCS operates thousands of community-building initiatives around the state and nation, including AmeriCorps and Senior Corps. The Senior Corps chapter in the City of Syracuse in particular has over 700 participants and receives over $1.1 million in federal funding to support its programs. As a part of Senior Corps in Syracuse, the school district, in conjunction with PEACE, Inc., supports a Foster Grandparent program, in which mentors are partnered with 1st and 2nd graders to focus on each child's individual needs and supplement classroom efforts through this mentoring. Schumer said if federal funding is cut, worthwhile local programs like the Foster Grandparent program in Syracuse would be jeopardized. Therefore, Schumer said he will oppose and fight any such cut that puts these types of local mentoring programs at risk.

"Cutting federal support for programs like the Foster Grandparent program in Syracuse, which helps supplement our teachers' efforts in the classroom, is akin to putting these school districts and children in detention for doing nothing wrong. Our teachers and school administrators have the incredibly important task of educating our children and providing them with the knowledge they need to be successful -- but this proposal would punish hundreds of Central New York students and teachers, as well as the senior citizens who want to volunteer out of the goodness of their hearts, for absolutely no reason," said Schumer. "The federal government can make no better investment than in the education and development of our children, so I am dead set against any proposal that slashes this funding and will fight tooth and nail to preserve it."

Schumer explained that both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have passed spending bills to fund the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), which is a federal agency that helps improve the lives of Americans through service programs like AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, the Social Innovation Fund, the Volunteer Generation Fund and more. However, the House funding bill would devastate CNCS programs like these by cutting the agency's overall funding by approximately 42 percent. This could in turn impact programs across the country and New York State, including ones like the Senior Corps program in Syracuse. In fact, Schumer said that while House appropriators have included funding for Senior Corps programs, its proposed 75 percent cut to the agency's administrative budget would essentially eliminate CNCS' ability to operate the program, leaving locals to support the program entirely on their own.

The Foster Grandparent program consists of 237 of Senior Corps Syracuse's more than 700 participants, and serves 30 locations throughout the area. According to Onondaga County, the program is allotted a total of $743,126 from the overall $1,173,339 in federal funding Senior Corps in Syracuse receives to support its programs. Schumer added that this is not the only program that is at risk at risk locally. The Onondaga County Chapter of AmeriCorps, as well as other Senior Corps programs, like Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) and the Senior Companion program are also in jeopardy if these cuts were to take place. According to CNCS, since 1994, more than 1,800 Onondaga County residents have served more than 2.9 million hours and have qualified for Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards totaling more than $6,400,000.

Schumer was joined by Syracuse City School District Superintendent Sharon Contreras; Beth O'Hara Director of Senior Services at PEACE, Inc.; Jenn Gambino, Supervisor of Volunteers at PEACE, Inc; Jessica Vasquez, State Director for CNCS; and senior volunteers, children and parents.

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