Newark’s Family Success Centers

With the weakened economy and tight budgets states are desperately awaiting the funds from Obama’s $787 billion stimulus bill. While the money will go directly to the states, cities leaders are optimistic that the infusion of cash will spur job growth (or prevent more layoffs) in their urban areas.

As members of Congress and the White House were still hammering out the details of the bill, mayors across the country began laying the groundwork for how they could best spend the money to help their cities. In Newark, NJ, Mayor Cory Booker has focused on ways to help families in need, boost city revenue and cut costs long before the stimulus was a done deal:

The economic stimulus package pending in Congress could end up being a boon for Newark. But Booker said the city also must aggressively boost revenue, including fees, parking and payroll taxes.

To stem rising costs, the mayor wants to reduce fuel expenses, perform energy audits and drop car allowances for city employees. He is considering replacing hard-wired telephone lines in city offices with cell phones and won’t rule out offering city services to other towns.

City officials also believe Newark could become a city of opportunity in hard times for companies unable to locate to more expensive towns.

During his tenure as mayor, Booker, in partnership with the State of New Jersey Department of Children and families opened 11 Family Success Centers in the city. These community-based centers serve as a one stop shop for families in need, offering information about health services, tax preparation, job training, child care, housing assistance, and other opportunities. The centers have been so successful that Booker has pledged to open a “grandfamily center” to assist the specific needs of the city’s 4,000 households headed by grandparents.

The most interesting thing about Booker’s approach is his balance of providing opportunity but demanding responsibility from those who benefit:

These comprehensive services will help our caregivers, parents, and families. But our caregivers, parents and families must reach out to the Centers, and they must be willing to take the steps that the Center staff prescribe. That may require foregoing a favorite pizza for a cheaper, but more nutritious meal. It might also call upon youngsters to give up a television show to bear down on homework. But these are small demands compared to those that adult life will impose, and the alternatives of ignorance, poverty, and crime are too bitter to contemplate - for us as civic leaders seeking to build the best Newark possible, and for our children, seeking to build the best people they can be.