County DHS braces for state cuts
Published 9:30 am Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Emergency rent and utility assistance. Mental health and chemical dependency assistance. Child protection.
As area municipal and educational leaders prepare for unallotments and delayed state aid payments during the next two years, local health and human services leaders likewise are getting ready to provide services with less.
Earlier this month, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposed a $236 million reduction in health and human services spending across the state.
Freeborn County Department of Human Services Director Brian Buhmann said though he does not have a dollar figure for how much the local Department of Human Services will be cut, he does know the reductions will give visible changes to services locally.
“It’s going to boil down to the level and amount of services that the clients will be seeing because of a reduction in funding,” Buhmann said. “We may see a waiting list for services. And we may see families having to step up to the plate even more.”
He said he has been working closely with Freeborn County Administrator John Kluever and the county commissioners since this time last year in anticipation of a challenging legislative year.
“We’re going to do a good job continuing our services,” he said.
In Freeborn County, the Department of Human Services makes up about $12 million of a $38.5 million county budget.
The department provides services in the areas of social services, financial assistance, mental health and victim assistance.
This includes services such as cash assistance, medical programs, food programs, emergency programs and child care assistance. It also includes psychiatric, psychological and therapy services, along with victims advocacy and safe housing, to name a few.
One of the specific programs Buhmann mentioned that will be affected is the emergency general assistance program.
Starting Nov. 1 and going through the end of June 2011, the program — which is used by clients who fall behind on rent or utility payments — will be suspended.
Buhmann said usually people can use the program once every calendar year, though it is most often used in October and May each year. In October, people want to make sure their bills are up-to-date before winter, and in May people need to get caught up from their heating bills, he said.
However, this will not be happening during the next two years.
Another area seeing a reduction is in the Children and Community Service grant the department receives. Buhmann said Freeborn County is looking at least a $117,000 reduction in the grant in the first year of the biennium, which is a 25 percent reduction. The second year it will be closer to a 30 percent reduction, which is about $225,000, he said.
Other reductions announced by Pawlenty include caps to chemical dependency payment rates, reduction or the end of several other grants and changes to provider rates.
Regardless of all the changes, Buhmann said he wants people to know the Freeborn County Department of Human Services will still do its best to provide the services people need.
“They may not be quickly delivered as they’ve been accustomed to, but their needs and safety will be met,” he said.
He encouraged people to start contacting their state representatives and sharing their concerns with them.
Kluever said the county is in a “reasonable” position to handle the unallotments that Pawlenty announced recently.
“I’m not saying everything’s rosy, but we don’t have to do a lot of reacting at this point,” he said. “That I think allows for some thoughtful consideration of what we’re going to be doing.”
A series of budget workshops will begin in late July or early August, and then by Sept. 15, the county’s preliminary budget and levy must be set, he said.
The budget will be finalized in December.