NORWICH – Gov. David Paterson’s plans to close or downsize juvenile detention centers in New York as well as the community options programs that aim to keep youths out of them are contradictory, say local officials.
“You can’t cut both,” Pam Larsen, executive director of the Family Resource Network said Wednesday. “Either children are placed, or they are supported well in the community to avoid that placement.”
About 15 to 30 of Chenango County’s children are hanging on a tightrope between the two options, with Larsen and Social Services Commissioner Bette Osborne left operating on a month-to-month basis with only enough funds budgeted through April. Moreover, should the Governor’s budget goes through as is, the cuts would be retroactive to October 2008.
The county contracts with the Network’s Coordinated Children’s Services Initiative (CCSI) to help families of at risk youths take advantage of the social and mental health services available to them. The six-year long collaboration has resulted in fewer placements in detention centers, except for last year when four - a higher number than usual - were placed.
Osborne said she expected that more youths would fall through the cracks this year because of the nation’s financial crisis.
“When you look at the family dynamics with economic stress, when families get into really a breaking point because they don’t have the money, a lot of times, the vulnerable ones in that family - children and the elderly - are the ones who seem to suffer from it. We see increased child abuse cases, adult protective issues, etc. When you can’t feed your family, it just seems to be like a domino affect,” she said.
The Chenango County Department of Social Services may have no choice but to ask local taxpayers to pick up the tab for CCSI, something that is exactly what they don’t want to do, Larsen said. CCSI was budgeted for 2009 at $56,200.
CCSI is just one program DSS turns to for persons in need. The total Community Optional Preventive reimbursements that could be lost to Chenango County if Albany supports the governor’s plan is approximately $84,000.
Osborne said the CCSI cut concerns her because, up until recently, she could turn to other revenue streams to recoup losses. With medical assistance and food stamp cases “going through the roof” and people walking into DSS for cash assistance for the first time in their lives, funds are stretched out, she said. Last year, Osborne said she was able to find funding streams to cover increased costs in 2008, but didn’t know how to save the CCSI program next year.
“A lot of people are out of work and a lot of people are in crises,” she said.
Family Resource Network is a parent run, parent driven organization serving individuals with disabilities and their families in Broome, Chenango, Tioga, Delaware and Thompson and Otsego counties. It provides families of children with social, emotional and behavioral disorders access to support, education, technical assistance, advocacy, information and referrals to professionals and the community.
“It’s been because of our success that they (Albany) can cut funding to detention centers in the first place,” Larsen said. “We are the glue that’s holding all the services together, making sure there’s not dislocation and duplication. We keep the family engaged and kids out of placement. We’ve been successful, and now they are talking about cutting our funding.”