NORWICH – If Governor David Paterson’s proposed 2009 budget passes through in the spring, Department of Social Services Commissioner Bette Osborne said Chenango County will lose about $370,000 in state reimbursements.
Administration costs for the state-mandated food stamp and safety net programs would be slashed, she said.
The commissioner said her department is already looking at ways to shift costs and claims in order to absorb the amount, but said she would wait to make any permanent moves until after the budget is signed.
“There’s really no need to jump because it could go in the wrong direction,” she told members of Health and Human Services Tuesday.
Administration cuts to the two programs and shifts in state funding streams for community options and youth recreation programs are the three areas in Paterson’s budget that would likely affect DSS, Osborne said.
“Legislators don’t see these as a problem because they don’t see how money filters down. They put so many bigger things in the budget that I’m worried that these little things will get missed.”
Committee Chairman Jeffrey B. Blanchard, R-Pitcher, said, “They tie our hands when they deal with the mandated programs. They didn’t run away from those (in Paterson’s proposed budget).”
Town of Smyrna Supervisor James Bays suggested Osborne contact regional representatives to “arm them” with information about the proposed cuts in advance of budgeting sessions.
Osborne said some of the state’s larger counties might even refuse to offer food stamps without administration funding.
In addition, an anticipated charge-back for youth offenders in juvenile homes has hit the county’s DSS budget hard this year. A change in billing methodology, in the works over the past few years, increased the average cost per day from $200 to $500. Bills retroactive to 2002 through the first quarter of this year total $282,000.
While Osborne has budgeted some for the expense, she said the line item would be “a high number” for the county department in the 2010 budget.
Chenango County currently has four youths in such facilities. There were 11 in 2001 and none in 2007.
The commissioner reported positive figures in 2008 for all social services programs, spending just shy of its $23 million budget. Safety net assistance rose, however, from $553,500 expended in 2007 to more than $710,000 last year. Osborne said the amount would continue to rise unless the economy improves.
“We’ve had people coming in for cash who have never done so before,” she said. Because of this, counselors must spend more time than normal educating individuals about the system. “They get upset with all of the red tape,” said Osborne.
Last year’s operations at Preston Manor also made budget, however Bays asked how long the county could continue to maintain the aging facility. He pointed to nearly $50,000 in repairs made in 2008 and asked Osborne to continue reaching out to the state’s health department about using the old Oxford Veterans’ Home as a replacement for Preston Manor.
Osborne said it might be considered “a waste” to move Preston Manor because of all the work that’s been put into it over the years. She added that the Vets’ Home facility might also only be available for use by a state institution.
The committee discussed marketing the home to traumatic brain-injured veterans returning from the Iraq War.
“Anything to promote jobs and use our resources. That would be a noble cause and something in support of our vets,” Bays said.