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Big Brothers Big Sisters tells Senate Finance cuts to TANF line would leave more than 1,000 Ohio children without mentors
Summary
A Big Brothers Big Sisters representative told the Senate Finance Committee that recent budget changes eliminated a $1 million per‑year TANF allocation that has funded mentoring statewide since 2014, and that the removal would increase waiting lists by more than 1,000 children over two years.
A representative for Big Brothers Big Sisters asked the Senate Finance Committee to restore TANF funding that has supported mentoring programs statewide since 2014.
Why it matters: Witnesses said the $1 million per fiscal year the organization had received in prior budgets created more than 500 new mentoring relationships annually, and that cutting the funds will reduce the program’s capacity to serve children on waiting lists.
The witness identified herself as a central Ohio affiliate representative for Big Brothers Big Sisters and said the DeWine administration included $1,000,000 per fiscal year in the governor’s budget but that the House halved TANF support and the Senate version removed the line entirely. “Without these dollars, over a thousand children statewide go without a mentor over the next 2 years,” she said.
The representative described the organization’s statewide fiscal role: the Central Ohio agency serves as fiscal agent for 17 affiliates across Ohio, and the organization currently serves “over 6,000 kids in Ohio” with more than 2,000 on waiting lists. When senators asked if programs would “shut down,” the witness answered that programs would not close but would be unable to reach needed capacity.
She framed mentoring as an evidence‑based investment, citing research on long‑term outcomes and asking the General Assembly to “stand with us and keep it going.”
