NCAPA Requests Federal Funding for Programs Impacting Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Communities

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NOV. 13, 2015

 Contact: Mary Tablante;

 (202) 706-6768;

 

[email protected]

NCAPA Requests Federal Funding for Programs Impacting Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Communities

“Enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Act was a necessary first step to protect Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities from harmful sequestration cuts in non-defense priorities that would have disproportionately impacted important programs focusing on language access, diversity and equality that already are underfunded,” said National Director Christopher Kang. “Now, Congress will determine how to fund the federal government within this budget framework, and the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans renews its call for Congress to support our communities’ priorities.”

Throughout the budget and appropriations process, NCAPA has made more than 30 funding requests for programs across the federal government that would impact Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. Today, we highlight several of these priorities and the real difference they could make in our communities:

  • Immigrant Integration and Citizenship program: NCAPA urges $10 million for this program in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. This program funds organizations that help immigrants prepare for citizenship. Two-thirds of Asian American and Pacific Islanders are foreign-born, and the current immigration system does not fully meet the comprehensive needs of immigrants. Integration grants provide culturally sensitive services to assist immigrants in overcoming integration barriers. Congress authorized that $10 million in fee revenue could fund this program in FY 2015, and we support at least a continued authorization but preferably direct appropriations at this level.

  • Community Relations Service (CRS): NCAPA urges $14.446 million for this office in the Department of Justice. CRS provides resources and tools to address community conflicts that arise from racial and ethnic tensions. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders continue to face racial and religious bias in neighborhoods, classrooms, and at work. Anti-immigrant legislation and rhetoric is increasing racial tensions, and National Center for Education statistics show that AAPI teens are bullied more than other ethnic groups. With this climate, there is a strong need for the efforts of CRS. This program was funded at $12.250 million in FY 2015.

  • Asian American & Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI): NCAPA urges $30 million to strengthen the AANAPISI grant program in the Department of Education. This program addresses the unique challenges of Asian American and Pacific Islander students in college access and completion. It helps to develop curriculum and academic instruction; enhance tutoring, counseling, and other student support programs; and establish community outreach programs that encourage AAPI elementary and secondary school students to develop academic skills. This program was funded at a mere $3.113 million in FY 2015.

  • Racial and Ethnic Approach to Community Health (REACH) program: NCAPA urges $50 million for this program under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). REACH has historically provided direct support to racial and ethnic minority communities with the highest rates of health morbidity and mortality and the greatest burden of disease, to develop sustainable solutions for their health issues. REACH has a decade of documented success in engaging AAPI communities in addressing the underlying conditions of chronic disease. This program was funded at $50.9 million in FY 2015.

  • Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant (NHHBG) program: NCAPA urges $9 million for this program in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This program funds housing and community developments for low-income Native Hawaiian communities. As the only block grant specifically designed to assist Native Hawaiians, the NHHBG program provides affordable housing services for low-income Native Hawaiians eligible to reside on Hawaiian Home lands; financial assistance; housing counseling; and acquisition and rehabilitation of affordable housing. This program was funded at $9 million in FY 2015, and we support its sustained, level funding.

  • Office of Housing Counseling: NCAPA urges $65 million for this Office in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This Office provides housing counseling, including language-capable housing counselors that are especially critical for many at-risk, limited English proficient (LEP) homeowners. One third of AAPI are considered to be LEP, which make us highly susceptible to loan scams and mortgage fraud, and housing counselors can help to protect these customers from these predatory practices by helping them to manage their finances, maintain mortgage payment schedules, and avoid foreclosure. This program was funded at $47 million in FY 2015.

We look forward to working with Congressional leaders to ensure that these programs—and all of our priorities—are integrated into the final appropriations legislation. We also urge Congress not to include any ideological policy riders that would harm our communities and unnecessarily politicize the funding necessary to keep our government running.

Here is our full list of appropriations priorities (alphabetical by agency):

 

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Food and Nutrition Service

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for
 Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

$6.684 billion

National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Food Safety Outreach Program

$5 million

Office of Advocacy and Outreach

Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers Program (2501 Program)

$10 million

Rural Business- Cooperative Services

Value-Added Producer Grants (VAPG)

$15 million

Rural Business- Cooperative Services

Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) program

$2.5 million

Rural Business- Cooperative Services

Rural Microenterprise Investment Program

$4.653 million

 

U.S. Department of Commerce

Bureau of the Census

$1.5 billion

 

U.S. Department of Education

Higher Education

Federal TRIO Programs

$859.8 million

Higher Education

Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for
 Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP)

$301.6 million

Higher Education

Strengthening Alaska Native and Native
 Hawaiian-Serving Institutions

$12.8 million

Higher Education

Strengthening Asian Americans and Native
 American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions

$30 million

School Improvement

Native Hawaiian Student Education

$34.2 million

Student Financial Assistance

Pell Grants

$22.5 billion (discretionary)

 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

CDC

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention
 & Health Promotion (NCCDPHP)

$1.1 billion

CDC

National Center for Health Statistics

$148 million

CDC

Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH)

$50 million

HRSA

Bureau of Primary Health Care- Health Center Program

$4.2 billion

HRSA

Native Hawaiian Health Care

$14.4 million

OS-OASH

Office of Minority Health

$57 million

 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Office of the Secretary and Executive Management

Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

$20.954 million

US Citizenship and Immigration Services

287(g)

Eliminate the program

US Citizenship and Immigration Services

Immigrant Integration and Citizenship Program

$10 million

 

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

Community Planning and Development

HOME Investment Partnerships Program

$1.6 billion

Office of Housing

Housing Counseling Assistance Program

$65 million

Office of Housing

Housing of the Elderly (Section 202)

$455 million

Public and Indian Housing

Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant (NHHBG) Program

$9 million

Public and Indian Housing

Native Hawaiian Loan Guarantee Fund (Section 184a)

$100,000

 

U.S. Department of Interior

National Park Service- National Recreation and Preservation

Japanese American Confinement Sites Grants

$3 million

Office of Insular Affairs

Assistance to Territories

$99.66 million

 

U.S. Department of Justice

Community Relations Service

$14.446 million

 

U.S. Department of Labor

ETA

WIOA Title I State Formula Grants (Adult, Dislocated Workers, and Youth)

$1.61 million

 

Other

Legal Services Corporation

$486.9 million

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

$373.112 million

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Based in Washington, D.C., the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans is a coalition of 35 national Asian Pacific American organizations that serves to represent the interests of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities and to provide a national voice for our communities’ concerns. Our communities are the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in the United States, currently making up approximately six percent of the population.


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