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From the Messenger Post:

Fairport, N.Y. — A local group that provides assistance to at-risk youth and their families says proposed state budget cuts threaten to eliminate one of its programs.

On the chopping block is Primary Project, an early intervention program run by the non-profit Children’s Institute in Rochester. The program is geared toward kids between preschool and third grade who show signs of behavioral or emotional problems in the classroom. In the Rochester area, it provides program training and assistance for teachers in 32 schools in the Brighton, Fairport, Rochester and Victor school districts.

All four elementary schools in the Fairport School district — Dudley, Brooks Hill, Jefferson Avenue and Northside — offer Primary Project.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget consolidates and reduces funding for organizations similar to the Children’s Institute. If passed, the budget would cut the total funds in half — from approximately $70 million to $35 million in 2011-12 — and organizations would have to compete against each other for funding.

This comes amid a plan to eliminate New York’s $10 billion deficit with no new taxes or spending. While some may see the cuts as necessary, others say it’s unfair to cut off the lifeblood of these non-profits.

Lori VanAuten, deputy executive director with the Children’s Institute, said programs like Primary Project are crucial, because they correct behavioral and emotional problems while children are young. With high referral costs for managing students with learning disabilities that go uncorrected, she and other advocates say it saves tax dollars in the long run.

“We look at this as a fiscally prudent program,” said VanAuten.

The Children’s Agenda, a Rochester-based research and advocacy group, released a statement last week expressing its opposition to these cuts. The cuts would also reduce funding for the Nurse-Family Partnership, a program which allows paid nurses to visit homes of first-time young mothers in need of support. Another program that would be affected provides 600 runaway and homeless youths in Monroe County in 2010.

“I think everyone knows that cuts have to be made, but there’s real concern that vulnerable children and families will be made to pay the price,” said Carolyn Lee-Davis, policy analyst at Children’s Agenda.

The Children’s Agenda asked the governor to reinstate the majority of the funding for Primary Project, conceding that the program could handle a 10 percent funding cut. There has been no formal response from the governor’s office as of Feb. 25, said Dr. Jeff Kaczorowski, executive director of The Children’s Agenda and local pediatrician. Kaczorowski said the program should be protected.

“We need to keep programs that have a proven track record and protect the basic safety of our kids while eliminating line items that aren’t effective.”