At the Tuesday, January 5 county commissioners meeting, County Human Service Lead James Laughman discussed $101,159 in state level cuts to the County’s Human Services Development Fund (HSDF). The now-$735,288 allocation serves as a budget supplement to provide funding for a number of typically unmandated preventative services, including homeless case management, early intervention programs, and bi-lingual mental health counseling.
“If we take another 10-13% cut [next year], it could really be catastrophic,” Laughman told the commissioners. He added that, whereas other Counties often spend most of the 10% of HSDF allotted for administrative costs, Lancaster County has managed to keep those expenses down to 5% of the funds. Any additional cuts would directly impact services rendered, Laughman concluded.
“HSDF allows us to fill the gaps,” Laughman told NewsLanc, “I call it the safety net of safety nets….For example, with Sexual Assault Prevention Counseling, we’re not required to pay any money for that. The County’s not responsible for that at all.” Laughman explained that people can technically obtain services such as this through their medical assistance or private insurance, but sometimes those channels are not accessed due to fear or embarrassment. In such cases, Laughman said, HSDF can provide “a pool of money where people can get the services.”
“None of [the HSDF-funded services] are mandated at all. But it gives us the opportunity to be proactive and preventative—which government typically isn’t,” Laghman asserted.
As an example, Laughman presented NewsLanc with one $40,200 line item that has not been cut—for this year, at least. Currently the County uses HSDF funds to send a full-time case worker to the Community Homeless Outreach Center. Each day, as scores of homeless men and women pass through the day center, this paid worker meets with individuals to help them apply for assistance programs. “So we get people hooked up with employment, we get them mental health treatment, we get them involved in physical health treatment, we get them in places to live,” Laughman explained.
If this unmandated service were to be cut, Laughman said, the case worker would likely be downgraded to a less effective part-time position.
When asked which cutback for 2010 would be the most painful, Laughman identified a 13% cut in Drug & Alcohol funding for Compass Mark, which provides students with substance abuse and life-skills counseling. Laughman explained how, although this is not the largest cut, the loss of about $22,000 to this organization is particularly painful: “When I look at programs like Compass Mark—which are preventative in nature, do a great job, and the outcomes are spectacular—and realize that we’ll have to cut some of those services and that there are some kids that are not going to be potentially diverted from the system…, it’s kind of sad.”
