This article reports that major reductions have already been made that reduce essential services affecting “public schools, hospitals treating Medicaid patients, local governments, and many other state-funded services.” Cuts to early learning programs and wait lists for child care subsidy could mean more low-income parents will enter the roles of the unemployed. The state already made significant cuts in K-12 education in previous fiscal years resulting in “a slow degradation of education quality and a renewed widening of the performance gap between schools in rich and poor areas.”
Direct impact to the resident women at Hope Alive and those who call searching for help will most likely include the following:
- Unmet addiction treatment needs and inadequate treatment services
- $9.5 million loss to community mental health services
- Medical assistance provider rate reductions forcing more and more medical providers to stop serving Medical Assistance patients and losing their access to care
- Elimination of $500,000 in rental assistance to low-income recipients from the Department of Housing and Community Development’s current FY 30% cut in rental allowance program that is used to end chronic homelessness and prevent homelessness for low-income families facing eviction. (A woman calling Hope Alive for services this week reported that the Department of Social Services has posted signs in their lobby notifying clients that "no housing help is available".)
The Maryland Budget & Tax Policy Institute appropriately responds by stating “education from early learning to higher education is not wasteful spending. Medical treatment and related services are all necessary. Housing is a human right that all Marylanders must have access to. Frankly, none of these programs are exactly ’fat and happy’ and do not represent wasteful spending. In fact, they all have their own compelling stories of critical unmet needs.” The Institute promotes the critical need to look for a balanced approach to balancing the budget and presents viable measures to increase revenue.
We praise and thank God daily that He provides Hope Alive as a safety net for homeless families and sustains our core services to the escalating number of women and children who so desperately need our help. Thank you for your faithful support and commitment to our mission and thanks for listening. I’ll keep information and updates coming your way. Check out our website for information about our upcoming Visions for Hope fundraising event on Thursday, April 28 benefitting our child development programs. It's a fun family-friendly event and all for a really great cause! Until next week …
Sue Oehmig
Founder and Executive Director
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