Although cuts and lack of increases in state public welfare spending have not adversely affected many people in Schuylkill County, that could change, according to some local officials who work with needy citizens.
"Obviously, with the economy ... there's been a lot more need," said Ted Dreisbach, executive director of Schuylkill Community Action. "We deal with a lot of people that are very low income."
However, those who depend on state Department of Public Welfare money could see more unmet needs, as lawmakers in Harrisburg who are preparing the 2012-13 budget will be taking a hard look at what that agency spends, according to state Sen. David G. Argall, R-29.
"I expect the Department of Public Welfare to come under very, very careful review for some additional cuts in this budget," said Argall, a Rush Township Republican whose district includes all of Schuylkill and parts of Berks and Carbon counties. "It's the largest agency in state government."
Furthermore, any cuts will not be made up by the county, which plays a minimal role in public welfare spending, according to County Administrator Mark J. Scarbinsky.
"That's all ... state programs," he said. "There are no direct allocation to individuals."
Although the department's budget increased in 2011-12 to $27.076 billion from $25.263 billion in 2010-11, the entire increase was in money provided by the federal government, according to DPW Deputy Press Secretary Anne Bale. State allocations for DPW remained at $10.56 billion in both fiscal years, she said.
DPW programs include Medical Assistance, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, General Assistance. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as food stamps), Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Housing Assistance Program.
Schuylkill County recipients of those services in 2010-11, according to DPW, included 27,525 for Medical Assistance, 1,199 for temporary Assistance for Needy Families, 502 for General Assistance, 21,227 for SNAP, 6,806 for LIHEAP and 39 for the Housing Assistance Program.
With proposals to test welfare recipients for drug use - a pilot program for that is being conducted in Schuylkill County - and to tighten rules on the assets that they may own, such spending has been under a microscope.
Argall, who is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that is exactly what his constituents tell him they want at town hall meetings across his district.
"I hear a lot from the people I represent ... that there's still some abuse in the system," he said. "I do believe that they will be considered for additional cuts. I understand that we've cut it back."
Cutbacks already have hurt the Human Services Development Fund, the one county program funded by DPW, according to county Block Grant Manager Sharon Love. That fund helps people who do not fit neatly into any particular category, Love said.
"We kind of develop programs where we see need. We've been cut quite a bit over the years," from as high as $400,000 to $132,538 in 2011-12, Love said.
Those cuts have come when the need for such programs is increasing, she said.
"We just cannot serve all the people that need it," Love said. "The economy is bad. People are losing their jobs."
Dreisbach also said the need is there, although his agency has not been hurt by cuts due to diverse sources of funding, including the federal government and private grants.
He said the one DPW program his agency has is the Work Ready Program, which uses $151,290 to serve about 50 people per year.
"It's a welfare-to-work type program," where staff members prepare clients for the working world and then try to find them jobs, Dreisbach said. "Our funding has been pretty stable with that the last two years."
Dreisbach said stimulus funding has helped his agency in the last two years, but that is drying up, and trouble could result.
"The federal government is sort of tightening spending," he said. "That's going to put a strain on the services for people in need."