This response exposes the chilling calculus behind many denial decisions: when a child’s access needs are measured against a spreadsheet, the result is always scarcity masquerading as realism. “Not in the budget” becomes a shield for institutional abandonment—a way to recast preventable harm as fiscal necessity, and to naturalise exclusion as simply unfortunate.
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Allocation framing
Allocation framing is the bureaucratic sleight of hand that replaces care with calculation. Under its logic, support is not given based on what a child needs, but…
This entry is part of The budget is the behaviour—a series of graded rebuttals that translate common institutional justifications into the language of consequence. Each response challenges euphemism, clarifies impact, and holds decision-makers accountable. Read the full series.
