Author: Sam Fish | Posted: 9. March 2010 03:35

As state agencies continue to grapple with balancing the 2010 state budgets, the idea of planning for 2011 is a distant haunting challenge.  Almost every state in the country is experiencing significant shortfall and large revenue declines.  Each state is examining the best response to growing gaps between the revenue being generated and the committed budget allocations for mandatory grant programs. As states whittle away at the state funded excesses for federal programs, the risk of being unable to meet Maintenance of Effort requirements exists. States are responding to the deficits through cuts to the major programs mandated for states to manage, such as TANF, child care assistance, homeless programs, child abuse prevention and services to abused and neglected children. States have taken action to reduce TANF expenditures by:  reducing cash assistance payments, eliminating cost of living adjustments to cash assistance, restricting the eligibility group for assistance, reducing substance abuse treatment, and extending waiting periods before families can reapply for assistance. Child care assistance has also taken major hits through: rejecting any new applications for child care assistance, reducing the child care subsidy amount, cutting child care subsidies, and eliminating health insurance for home-based child care providers. In Child Welfare arena, child abuse prevention programs are being downsized or eliminated, services for children and families who are reported for child abuse and neglect, reimbursement rates for institutions that provide care to children in the child welfare system and legal services for foster children.  These examples of significant service and benefit reductions are in addition to staff layoffs, furlough days, reducing state and county office hours, eliminating positions and hiring freezes. As city, county and state government offices experience overwhelming consequences from the economic downturn, PCG has an opportunity to partner with these government entities to re-evaluate current funding allocations and consider re-engineering the business process or the system of care to align more appropriately with available local and federal funds. There has never been a better time for government entities to examine what works, what does not work, and take steps to create a business design that will be proactive and not reactive to ongoing challenges that may exist in the financing of necessary business operations.