Vermont prevention providers urge restore, increase to parent-child and abuse-prevention funding

At a House Human Services budget hearing, community prevention providers told lawmakers that proposed cuts would reduce services to thousands of Vermont families and urged restoration or increases to state prevention funding.

Ellen, of the Parent Child Center Network, described the network’s reach and results, saying parent child centers cover all regions of the state and in the past year served more than 22,000 parents and 23,000 children. The network, she said, administers an integrated grant created by 2023’s Act 150 and currently distributes about $7,000,000 to 15 centers through the Department for Children and Families, Child Development Division.

"We served more than 22,000 parents this past year," Ellen said, citing increases in parent knowledge and social connections after center use.

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