FYI: The mayor’s proposed 18.5 percent cut to child abuse and neglect prevention services will translate into a spike of more than 3,000 kids moving into foster care, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum argued in a recent report. Gotbaum’s estimate is based on trends in the foster care/prevention services balance over the last few years, where the number of kids in foster care dropped by 10.2 percent between 2000 and 2002 as the city spent 9.5 percent more on prevention. Gotbaum says the city will have to spend an additional $21.7 million on the new foster care slots, far overriding the mere $7.8 million cut. [5/28/03]