AN OPEN LETTER TO A HOUSE DIVIDED

An Open Letter to a House Divided


Andrew Malekoff © October 2012
To the Nassau County Legislature and County Executive: I attended every Nassau County legislative meeting since May 2012 when funding cuts to human services were first addressed. I testified at four of the meetings. I presented illustrations of troubled children and working families and asked what the County’s backup plan was to help them after $7.3 million of tax-free, dedicated red-light camera revenues were shifted to the general fund. You offered no answers.

I provided facts and figures about the astronomical cost for incarceration in the Nassau County Correctional Facility and compared it to the relatively modest cost of preventive community-based services. I asked you where the money would come from if more kids are incarcerated or institutionalized as a result of depleted services. You offered no answers.

More than testifying, though, I listened and watched you interacting with one another and the public. To your credit, although you routinely pointed fingers at one another across the aisle, not one of you questioned the value of the services that have been held hostage for almost four months since the red-light camera funds were rescinded. If your sense of duty forbids these devastating cuts to human services, to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, then I ask you to stand by your duty, fearlessly and effectively.

In his Cooper Union address, Lincoln famously declared that, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." We know that he was referring to a troubled nation. And, although what is at stake today is vastly different than what was at stake in 1860, what is unmistakable to me, after attending the legislative meetings, is that Nassau County is a house divided against itself. And what was true 150 years ago is still true today: a house divided against itself cannot stand.

I was invited, as a guest, to a meeting of the Federalist Society in September. Although I am not a member, I was very interested in what the guest speaker, NIFA Director George Marlin, had to say. I was hopeful that his remarks might shed additional light on Nassau County’s draconian cuts to vital human services. I did not expect Mr. Marlin to be sympathetic to youth services, for example, but I thought he might help me to better understand the fiscal context and what it would take for positive change to occur.

I was left with a distinct impression that Mr. Marlin, who described himself as a “street-corner conservative,” was not pleased with the fiscal trajectory of Nassau County. Yet, referring to New York State’s challenges, he lauded Governor Andrew Cuomo’s leadership and ability to find common ground, to work capably with members of both sides of the aisle and to effectively negotiate differences in balancing the state budget.

What a novel idea, I thought: cooperation, negotiation and integrated solutions. I implore you, our Nassau County elected representatives and County Executive, to provide leadership by finding ways to work together for the benefit of all of the people of Nassau County; and, in the process, to find a way to restore the tax-free essential human services funding; and, to do it soon.

ASSAULT ON HUMAN SERVICES

Anton Community Newspapers • 132 East 2nd Street • Mineola, NY 11501

ASSAULT ON HUMAN SERVICES
by Andrew Malekoff© September 20, 2012

September 5, 2012 marked two months since 7.3 million dollars, earmarked to support human services, were shifted to the general fund. We were told that this was due to the Nassau County legislature’s failure to pass $41 million in bonding for property tax refunds. But, it is not that simple.

How did all of this get started? In 2009, then-County Executive Tom Suozzi "enlisted" the county's most vulnerable citizens as unpaid lobbyists to advocate for red-light cameras, cigarette taxes and traffic-violation reform. Mr. Suozzi threatened scores of agencies serving tens of thousands of youths and families that they would be closed down or crippled unless the revenue enhancers were passed through Albany.

Red-light camera legislation passed and local agencies were assured, by unanimous vote of the full Nassau County legislature, that related revenues would become a sustainable source funding for these services. Three years later, that agreement is null and void. Our young people are now the collateral damage in a political war over bonding and redistricting.

More than two months have passed since the July 5, 2012 cuts to human services, which included $1.75 million of chemical dependency treatment funding. Despite extensive testimony, protests and media coverage, not a thing has changed. Advocates, young and old, have held press conferences, prayer vigils and a symbolic funeral for youth services. On August 6, several young people and adults attended a legislative meeting symbolically bound, gagged and blindfolded to point out that youth services were being held hostage.

What is the outcome of all of this activity and attention? Democrat and Republican legislators continue to point fingers and holler at one another in front of hundreds of disbelieving youths and family members who have become regular attendees at legislative meetings as well as activists in addressing this issue.

Youth services organizations that depend almost exclusively on County funds will close in a short time. Agencies with more diversified funding may not go out of business, but will have to shutter critical services such as after-school and summer programs as well as suicide, pregnancy, gang and drug-prevention programs that keep kids safe, provide enriching activities and offer a sense of belonging and relationships with caring adults during the non-school hours.

The developmental tasks necessary for adolescents in our culture to become healthy, functioning adults require great effort and time and more than parent and school support alone. These tasks include forging relationships with peers and adults that lead to the achievement of emotional independence from parents, developing a healthy sexual identity, building a capacity for greater intimacy with peers, learning skills and selecting an economic career; also developing a moral value and an ethical system to guide one’s behavior as well as desiring and employing socially responsible behavior.

Adolescence today is an age of particular vulnerability, a time in which youngsters are experiencing the sexual awakenings of puberty earlier than ever while facing increasing social and educational demands, and experimenting with more freedom, autonomy and choice than ever before. The politically-motivated de-funding of youth services is therefore an attack on the family.

Nassau County’s broken promises and its propensity to use vulnerable young people as pawns in promoting partisan political interests represents a moral failing and a lack of leadership. Our elected representatives on both sides of the aisle should be ashamed of themselves for putting our most vulnerable young people in the political crosshairs. Who among them will stand and deliver to put an end to this madness?

**Andrew Malekoff is Executive Director / CEO, North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center

Roslyn Heights, New York 11577 and author of Group Work with Adolescents: Principles and Practice (Guilford Press), now in its second edtion. E-mail: amalekoff@northshorechildguidance.org

PARENTS, STUDENT ATHLETES AND THE PENN STATE SCANDAL

Parenthood Plus: August 30, 2012


Written by Andrew Malekoff, Executive Director North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center Friday, 31 August 2012 00:00

Parents, Student Athletes And The Penn State Scandal

Bob, my younger brother, was a die-hard Penn State football fan going back to the early 1960s. In later years he became a college coach and athletic director. Presently, he is Chair of the Sports Studies Department at Guilford College. He has written and researched extensively on maximizing the educational value of sports participation for youths, middle and high school, and college athletes. I thought there was no one better to ask about the Penn State mess and what lessons parents could take from it? Here is what he told me:

“For the past few months, we have been inundated with news about what is now commonly known as the ‘Penn State Scandal.’ Although the focus has been on the horrific acts of Jerry Sandusky and decrying the actions – or lack thereof – of Penn State administrators and others, it may be helpful to consider what the parents of young athletes can learn from this tragic affair.

“Many parents have paused and asked themselves, ‘What do I really know about the people coaching my children?’ First, the overwhelming majority of youth and high school coaches are solid citizens who have the best interests of your child in mind. But it would be naïve to think that there are not exceptions. Many states have laws requiring youth sport organizations and public schools to run background checks on coaches. Whether or not this is the case for your community, you can speak to the appropriate authorities about conducting these checks and implementing training programs that address how coaches can help young athletes to have a positive and safe experience.

“Parents need to understand that it is the coach’s job to manage the team and, for the most part, you should not interfere. However, you should be aware of the kind of experience that your child is having and you should feel free to ask questions. We sometimes tend to assign positive personal characteristics to coaches, whether deserved or not. This is particularly so in the case of winning programs; even at youth, and middle and high school levels. But winning championships doesn’t necessarily make someone a good person or role model. And, there is no question that it is difficult to challenge the coach who is competitively successful and has strong support from team parents and in the community. With unconditional support, less sensitive coaches can feel empowered to do as they please, especially if they are oblivious to how youngsters might be adversely impacted by their actions.

“Finally, you should strive to help your children keep sports in perspective. This starts with you, as a parent, doing the same.

“An appropriate level of perspective doesn’t mean that your child should not be competitive or do his or her best to excel on the field or court, or should not show respect for coaches and teammates. It does mean that when faced with a coach who behaves inappropriately or a teammate who bullies other children, your child should be encouraged to share what is going on, as opposed to subscribing to the idea that a good team member never questions a coach’s authority, even if it is used to exploit or harm others.

“The great majority of coaches care deeply about the long-term development of the children under their supervision, but parents of young athletes are wise to bear in mind an adage that was lost on a number of people involved in the Penn State tragedy: ‘Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.’”