If you look at a day in the life of an ordinary family, the decisions made in Washington, DC seem very far away. Between getting the kids off to child care or school, getting to work on time, grabbing groceries and doing the laundry, there isn’t a lot of time left for parents to ponder the big picture issues, like how Congress is divvying up our tax dollars.

And it can be hard to see the federal dollars that are at work in our communities. When a fifth grader sits down at a computer in the school library and logs on to research a report on alligators, are federal tax dollars at work? How about when a mentor meets with a teen in foster care to help with a college application?

The answer, often, is yes. The federal E-Rate program helps schools pay for Internet access. Federal grants to states are disbursed to community organizations working with children and youth in all kinds of different ways, including mentoring programs.

With Congress and the President vowing to cut back domestic spending in an effort to trim the federal deficit without increasing taxes, it’s more important than ever for community-minded people to understand what exactly is at stake.

Federal cutbacks are already making themselves felt in our towns and schools. I spoke to my neighbor, who is a reading specialist with the Fairfax, VA school system. He said there are a lot of kids in his elementary schools with asthma and other health conditions that require skilled care, but they are losing their school nurse because of cutbacks in federal funding.

Some Communities Face Fiscal Nightmares
If your city or town is broke, what happens? Here’s what’s happening in Detroit. Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has announced he will be laying off city workers, ending overnight bus service and closing the aquarium. As revenues and population declines, as taxpayers exit the city to find a better deal for their families, Detroit may have to cut funding for the zoo, cultural affairs, health services, and street lighting, according to the New York Times (Shrinking, Detroit Faces Fiscal Nightmare, Feb. 2, 2005, ).

What happens to the quality of life in your neighborhood, or to your property values, when state and federal funding dries up, and local taxes can’t fill the gap?

A retired town planner I know has been watching federal funding for programs for children and youth slowly decline over the past 20 years. As the funding has gone down, it has also been shifted, with fewer dollars coming as direct federal grants to localities, and more coming through block grants to state governments. When the money started to disappear, some communities picked up the slack by raising sales or property taxes. Some cut back on services.

She said if advocates’ fears of deep cuts in federal spending for social programs are realized, communities which have managed to leverage federal dollars to supplement local funds for community programs will lose a vital ally in their efforts. Communities that either can’t or won’t raise property taxes may see the quality of life in their communities decline, along with their property values. When that happens, the crisis deepens as the value of the property tax base shrinks.

The Local Face of Federal Policy Change
Cuts made this year may not begin to make themselves felt for some time. The 1996 changes to our welfare system are an example. As more families run up against time limits and lose access to benefits, the human cost is revealed. In a new report, emergency room doctors in major urban areas have found that families who have lost their welfare benefits are experiencing more difficulty getting enough food, and are showing up at the hospital with infants and toddlers suffering from more serious illnesses, requiring more expensive care, including hospitalization.

With food insecurity on the rise, how will communities be affected if proposals to make cuts in the federal food stamp program are carried out?

Looking for Answers
How many bathrooms need fixing in your local high school? Are there enough textbooks for every student? How about computer time? Call your local principal and find out. Federal and state funds help schools keep up with repairs, supplies and computer access, but if funds are limited, they can’t keep pace!

Congressional leaders have already identified some specific programs that will be targeted for cuts, including food stamps, Medicaid, housing assistance, child care and other work supports.

As a concerned citizen, you should be able to find out how many people in your community rely on food stamps to buy groceries, on Medicaid for health care for their children and themselves, on housing vouchers to help pay the rent, on child-care subsidies so they can work. The names are private, but the numbers are public information.

If your local government has a web site, that's one starting place. The blue pages in the phone book are another. A phone call to Nan Coppedge, director of social services for Madison County, was all it took to get figures for county caseload and spending figures for food stamps, Medicaid, TANF and more. Applications for all programs, said Coppedge, are on the increase.

Are Teens Getting Short Shrift?
While a lot of federal funding now goes first to the state, Workforce Investment Act funding still goes directly to communities. WIA is up for renewal – and thus a target for cuts. Many communities have used WIA job opportunities grants to provide job training and summer jobs for their young people.

Congress has already eliminated the Youth Opportunity Grants under WIA, and money for those programs runs out in June. Linda Harris at the Center for Law and Social Policy has studied how communities have used their Youth Opportunities Grants. She says some communities have been able to pull together other funding to keep their programs going, but many have not. Find out if youth jobs programs in your community are shutting down, or cutting back on how many young people they serve.

The Federal Connection to Local Nonprofits
Another way federal dollars make a difference at the neighborhood level is through grants to local nonprofit organizations serving the community. If you want to know how many organizations in your area serve foster youth, or how many families rely on emergency food pantries, your local United Way can tell you. If you want to know how much these local community-based organizations rely on public dollars – state, county and federal money, your United Way should be able to give you an idea of the funding streams – private donations, grants, and public funds -- that local groups rely on.

Child Care Supports
Many states and communities have a waiting list of families needing public assistance to help pay for licensed child care while they work. Some have given up keeping a list because there aren’t enough dollars to reach any more families. If you want to know how much local families depend on federal dollars to pay child care providers in your community, check with your local Head Start or child care resource and referral agency.

Ask your Congressman!
If you want to know in general how much your community takes back in federal dollars, contact the local office of your Congressional representative. Many members of Congress talk big about making big cuts in social spending in the federal budget, but they are also very proud of the tax dollars they are able to send back to their constituents in the form of federal funding for transportation projects, school repairs, child care assistance, farm subsidies, or Community Development Block Grants.

Many members of Congress track the federal dollars that come into their district, and they even give a heads up to town planners and others about grant opportunities for local agencies and organizations. If you ask, their staff should be able to tell you how many federal dollars are supporting local services. If you ask, they should tell you what will be in jeopardy if Congress caps the domestic spending budget.

If you know the name of your representative, you can go to this alphabetical listing of House member’s web sites, which include district office contact information.

If you don’t know who your representative is, go to www.house.gov and enter your zip code to find out.

An On-Line Treasure Trove of Data
The title isn’t thrilling, but the Consolidated Federal Funds Report put out by the Census Bureau is a must-read if you are digging for details on the flow of federal dollars to your county. Fortunately, the report is on-line and searchable. I live in Madison County, Virginia. By going to the CFFR page on the Census Bureau web site, then choosing “2003” (the most recent fiscal year available) and “Geography” as my search term, I wound up on a page where I could select a state, and opt for county level information. My next stop was a document listing all types of federal expenditures in my county.

If you find out that federal cuts are a losing proposition for your neighbors and your town, tell your Congressional office what you think!

Tell us what you find out!

Send an e-mail to Connect for Kids intern Julie Garfield with what you’ve learned.

In a couple of weeks we’d like to report back on what you all have discovered, so be in touch.

In America we pride ourselves on taking care of our own. But no family, and no community, does it in a vacuum. Taxpayers may be getting a better deal for their money than they think. If we wait until the federal dollars are gone to ask the questions, we may wake up one day to realize our community has lost a lot, but it will be too late.