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2015 Session

Budget Amendments - HB1400 (Member Request)

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Chief Patron: Preston
Petersburg Family Stabilization Initiative

Item 341 #6h

Item 341 #6h

First Year - FY2015 Second Year - FY2016
Health and Human Resources
Social Services, Department of FY2015 $0 FY2016 $250,000 GF

Language
Page 309, line 19, strike "$25,450,789" and insert "$25,700,789".
Page 311, after line 39 insert:
"M.  Out of this appropriation, $250,000 the second year from the general fund is provided to the Petersburg Department of Social Services to continue the Petersburg Family Stabilization Initiative to help families achieve financial stability, improve education and health outcomes and promote independent living skills for youth."


Explanation
(This amendment provides $250,000 the second year to continue the Petersburg Family Stabilization Initiative (PFSI) operated by the Petersburg Department of Social Services. The department recently completed this 3-year pilot program to help families achieve financial stability, improve education and health outcomes, and promote independent living skills for youth. Participating families had to meet one of the following eligibility criteria to participate in this voluntary program: (1) be a single-parent household; (2) be a household where a parent did not graduate high school; (3) be a household where a child has been abused or neglected at some point in their lives; (4) be a household with no medical home; (5) be currently enrolled in the state welfare program; or (6) be in a family with a teenage parent. Evaluation of of the program indicated that in the first year, 78 percent of families had a financial plan upon exiting the program, up from 18 percent upon enrollment. The proportion of families current on their bills rose from 20 percent to 85 percent. There were also declines in the percentage of students with unexcused absences from school (from 21 percent to 11 percent) and increases in the number of parents employed or in a work-related, full-time education or training program (up from 37 percent to 52 percent). PFSI served 61 families in its first year, 55 in its second year, and 30 in its third year.)