Programs for At-Risk Women on NJ Gov's Chopping Block

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.diversityinc.com/article/7773/Programs-for-AtRisk-Women-on-NJ-Govs-Chopping-Block/

By Sam Ali - Jun 21, 2010

Faced with an $11-billion budget deficit, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's proposed 2011 state budget includes some deep and painful cuts. One of the programs in the cross-hairs is the Ujima Urban Women Center, a program that keeps women out of prison and helps find them jobs.

Come June 30, the state's $95,000 aid grant to the center based in Trenton, N.J., will be yanked, leaving hundreds of at-risk women, including ex-offenders and victims of domestic violence, out in the cold.

Kim Copeland, the center's executive director, believes the decision to eliminate the program is short-sighted and could ultimately end up costing New Jersey taxpayers up to $2 million in the long run.

A former Wall Street equity trader who recently graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary, Copeland has been running the Trenton program for the past 18 months. She says the state's decision to cut its $95,000 aid grant does not make financial sense. It currently costs the state $38,900 a year to incarcerate one woman offender, she says, adding, "If Ujima keeps just three women out of prison, it will have paid for itself."

[6000eliot]

1. If Corzine hadn't stupidly decided to campaign on this idiot's weight,

we wouldn't have to deal with this crap.