New reporting this week by CT Insider detailed the impact of the Trump administration’s withholding of millions in congressionally approved education funding on afterschool programming at the Boys & Girls Club of Meriden.
The Wednesday report was the latest in a series of stories describing the ongoing fallout of Republican President Donald Trump’s administration’s decision to cancel more than $50 million of previously approved funding intended to support Connecticut children and educational programs across the state.
Larue Graham, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Meriden, told CT Insider that the funding loss would have an enormous impact on both the program, which serves as many as 190 kids a day, and the transportation on which those students and their families depend.
“We’re talking about a lot of families who unfortunately can’t afford to send their kids to an afterschool program,” Graham said, according to the newspaper.
Sen. Jan Hochadel, D-Meriden, told CT Insider she had reached out to both the city’s Board of Education and the state Department of Education in hopes of finding supplemental funding to offset the Republican cut, but found those entities unable to help as they braced for their own funding cutbacks enacted by the Trump administration.
Hochadel said she worried about the impact of the GOP cuts on Connecticut families who were relying on the Boys & Girls Club as a safe place for their kids while parents are at work.
“I think the biggest fear is that these parents have to continue working and that the kids are going to be home, potentially endangering themselves,” Hochadel told CT Insider. “They won’t be getting the services they really need.”
The administration’s decision to withhold the funds is expected to have repercussions for programs serving young people across the nation. According to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the loss of funding could result in the closure of hundreds of clubs, providing supportive programming and safe spaces to more than 220,000 children during the most vulnerable times of day.
“Just like any organization, Boys & Girls Clubs depend on financial commitments to operate — to recruit talent, deliver services, and meet the needs of families they serve daily,” Jim Clark, president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, said in a statement. “If these funds are blocked, the fallout will be swift and devastating.”
