HARRISBURG - Faced with unrelenting cuts in state aid to county human services programs, officials are looking for ways to ensure that scarce dollars are used to deliver services to people.
Ideas being considered include removing reporting mandates and giving counties more flexibility in using state money to help individuals.
Counties want to mandate relief so they can devote more money and manpower to service delivery, said Brinda Carroll Penyak , deputy director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania. "If we have to look at reduced funding, we need to make sure we are as lean and efficient in the operation of the programs as possible," she said. "We want to make sure we are not overspending on the administrative side."
The state Department of Public Welfare is working with the commissioners association to develop pilot projects for new ways to pay for and deliver services ranging from Meals on Wheels to services for the disabled and job training. The initiative is authorized under a state law enacted in June. The commissioners have sent recommendations to DPW as preparations are made for the next state budget. DPW isn't commenting on the recommendations ahead of Gov. Tom Corbett's Feb. 7 budget address, said spokeswoman Carrie Miller.
The timeliness of this initiative was underscored when Corbett earlier this month cut the current state appropriation for the umbrella Human Services Development Fund by 5 percent or $748,000 as part of a belt-tightening attributed to declining state tax revenues. Commissioners value the HSDF for giving them options to fill holes in local service needs. They say it's less than enrolling vulnerable individuals in the more expensive Medicaid program.
The state HSDF appropriation is down to $14 million from $42 million because of rounds of budget cuts in recent years, said Penyak. One of the commissioners' recommendations is to structure more state programs along the lines of HSDF.
The counties want to waive a mandate requiring a needs-based plan for spending on child welfare and children and youth services more than a year in advance of funding. DPW once used the plan to determine funding allocations for each county, but that is no longer done, said Ms. Penyak. That leaves counties working on a time-consuming report for little purpose, she added.
The extent of changes will depend on Washington's reaction since federal guidelines also affect how money is spent on human services, said Penyak.
Meanwhile, a legislative research agency is studying mandates on county human services with a goal to providing recommendations for cost-savings and waivers.
The Legislative Budget and Finance Committee is looking specifically at the child welfare needs-based plan, forms for placement services under children and youth services and reporting by county nursing homes for cases of alleged abuse and neglect. The House passed a resolution last year authorizing the study.