YPI has sent an email to supporters, asking them to contact their legislators in the hope of having these funds restored.

We are asking our supporters to let the state know how valuable and important Youth Pride Inc.’s work with LGBTQQ youth is to our state and community. Let them know we are the only organization providing support and advocacy for LGBTQ youth in the state! Let them know that these youth need our organization!

“Please reach out to the Speaker of the House and Senate President immediately in support of YPI and the vital work that we do for LGBTQQ youth in Rhode Island TODAY. The Senate President can be contacted at: 401-222-6655 and the Speaker of the House can be reached at: 401-222-2466. Please reach out to your Representative as well.”

At yesterday’s House Budget briefing, I asked Speaker Nicholas Mattiello about the cuts to the program. He said that YPI serves a “very worthwhile purpose” but added, “Those services, needs, potentially are being serviced elsewhere.”

In the case of YPI, the Speaker said that he had heard the suggestion that, “guidance counselors in the school are in fact providing [these services]. Not specifically [for LGBTQ youth] but it’s something that is being addressed through other means.”

Given the range of services and programs YPI provides that specifically cater to the needs of LGBTQ youth in Rhode Island, it’s unlikely that guidance counselors are filling that need or have the time and ability to do so. That said, Mattiello, added towards the end of his statements, “We’ll take a look at [YPI] and we’ll see if it’s unique enough to fund.”

Representative Joseph Almeida entered the Budget Briefing late and asked about other worthwhile groups that have been denied funding, including the Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) which has provided employment training and placement opportunities since 2010 and the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence which works to reduce homicides and support victims of violence.

“It’s like all the poor people got cut, cut, cut,” said Almeida, who said afterwards that he was speaking from his heart, “Can’t you take money from Crossroads and give to people who really need it teaching peace in the streets and teaching people how to get jobs? I mean Crossraods? What? What do they do?”

Crossroads RI received $300,000 in the budget.

The Toll Fellowship is a leadership development program, named for the founder of CSG, Henry Walcott Toll. Each year, the program selects 48 officials from all three branches of government, and brings them to Lexington, KY, for what the program calls an “intellectual boot camp.”

Over the course of the six-day, five-night program, fellows will attend sessions that are designed to stimulate personal assessment and growth, as well as provide networking opportunities. Previous years have included sessions on leadership personality assessment, media training, adaptive leadership, and other topics. Abney stated in a press release that these sessions are important because legislators must know their strengths and weaknesses.

“My state is in the middle of rebuilding after the last recession,” he said. “Other legislators have survived similar environments and are doing well for their district and state. I simply want to learn from successful legislators. I believe that the more time I spend learning the craft of being an effective legislator, the less precious time I will spend on ineffective measures and policies.”

The 2015 class that Abney will join represents 33 states and Puerto Rico. There are 35 members from the legislative branch, four from the judiciary, and nine from the executive. Those who are interested in the program must go through an application process, which is reviewed by a nine-member committee of state leaders.

“Public service is vital in a free and democratic society,” Abney said. “I believe that public servants should strive to get better at their craft every day. The Henry Toll Fellowship Program provides that opportunity.”

Abney will attend the program from Aug. 28-Sept. 2.

“The Toll Fellowship remains the oldest and most prestigious of all leadership development programs for elected officials,” CSG executive director and CEO David Adkins said. “Its impact is profound and the quality is renowned. As a Toll Fellow from 1993, I know first hand the impact the program has on elected officials.”