While funding for arts and tourism organizations face increased scrutiny under Gov. Malloy’s budget proposal, they aren’t the only nonprofits worried about funding this session.
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While funding for arts and tourism organizations face increased scrutiny under Gov. Malloy's budget proposal, they aren't the only nonprofits worried about funding this session.
Health and human services organizations say across-the-board cuts at the state's array of health and social services agencies, in addition to targeted cuts to mental-health grants and other programs, could have a big impact on the services they provide for low-income residents with mental and physical disabilities and substance-abuse problems.
“The health and human services budget is the worst we have ever seen,” said Heather Gates, CEO of Windsor-based Community Health Resources (CHR), which runs substance abuse, foster care and other behavioral healthcare programs that serve approximately 20,000 people a year at more than 30 locations around the state. “I don't think there's a single nonprofit out there that won't be affected by this budget.”
With more than 700 employees and a budget of approximately $43 million in 2013, CHR is one of the biggest nonprofits in the state. It received nearly $31 million from state contracts and grants in 2013, according to CHR's financial filings.
Gates estimates CHR could lose $5 million in state funding if the legislature adopts Malloy's budget proposal. That could mean laying off 70 employees and closing some programs.
“It is essentially on a level close to catastrophic,” Gates said.
Health nonprofits and their advocates began submitting legislative testimony last week about the potential impact of the proposed cuts. The lobbying effort will continue into the session, Gates said.
Gates plans to argue that CHR's clients will likely have no remaining options if residential and community programs are shuttered or downsized. Many clients could end up in hospitals or even jails, she said.
Such lobbying efforts were partly successful last year, when the legislature implemented smaller cuts to social services than the governor had proposed in his budget. The legislature also restored some emergency rescissions Malloy made to social-services funding.
“We hope the legislature protects services like they did last year,” Gates said. “We're grateful they did.”
While funding looks almost certain to be tightened in the year ahead, nonprofits are in favor of a Malloy proposal to privatize 30 residential-living facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities, which aims to save $6.1 million.
The Community Nonprofit Alliance's Interim CEO Jeffrey Walter said the “modest proposal” is an example of the kind of long-term structural changes his membership would like to see in the future.
“The state has to get out of the business over time of providing certain services,” Walter said. “We are in favor of transitioning these programs to community settings.”
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