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���������� Note: Another powerful piece underscoring the devastating impact that 20% state funding cuts will have on community behavioral health agencies and the people who rely on them, especially during the most challenging of times. Yesterday, the Cuomo Administration backed off of cuts to education after the teachers union filed a lawsuit challenging the Governor’s authority here.

Reductions Hit ����������’s Most Vulnerable The Hardest
By Amanda Fries  Albany Times Union  September 15, 2020

ALBANY — The fiscal stress warnings came early in the coronavirus pandemic as ���������� contended with a growing budget deficit tied, in part, to its response to the public health crisis.

State officials alerted all sectors — from localities that rely on state aid to mental health and addiction recovery service providers, among others — to expect 20 percent reductions in aid as ���������� attempted to reduce spending and close what is now estimated to be a $14.5 billion deficit this year.

But service providers, state lawmakers and community advocates say the blanket approach to reducing funds has disproportionately impacted the most vulnerable ����������ers — communities also devastated by the coronavirus — and charge that a more equitable and systematic approach could be taken.

“It’s not the way to manage things. It’s not the way to cut services by levying 20 percent throughout,” said Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, a Manhattan Democrat and chair of the Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. “It’s basically a value judgment that we’ve made on what’s a priority.”

During an Assembly hearing Tuesday on the impact the pandemic has had on alcohol and drug recovery services, providers and lawmakers said some hospitals converted detox and inpatient drug treatment beds to treat COVID-19 patients, and they don’t expect the beds will be returned for drug treatment use.

Programs allowing safe syringe drop-offs along with other out-patient and clinical services have been stymied during the pandemic as well, which can lead to patients relapsing or overdosing. Indeed, counties in the Capital Region and elsewhere have reported soaring overdoses amid the pandemic, and demand for mental health and substance abuse services has increased.

John Coppola, executive director of the Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers of ���������� State, said the pandemic has fueled social issues, creating an isolating environment where people can easily slip into anxiety and depression.

“These are all issues where people would self-medicate,” he said. Plus, one vice has become easier to access – alcohol delivered to your doorstep, Coppola said.

“The number of relapses has been significantly impacted by policies around alcohol and COVID itself,” he said.

Some services were spared from the 20 percent withholds, but not without providers and advocates speaking out and prodding budget officials. Mental health housing providers feared they would be unable to make rent payments, which would result in vulnerable ����������ers losing their homes. The state reversed course, releasing the funds necessary to cover food and shelter programs.

“To be clear … rent payments are not being withheld as food and shelter are basic fundamental services and any reduction here would be a last resort in the absence of federal assistance,” said budget office spokesman Freeman Klopott. “As such, we are delivering full payments on services that provide food to low-income ����������ers, such as school lunch, and programs for rental and shelters assistance for our most vulnerable ����������ers.”

Klopott did not provide an explanation for why budget officials did not approach cuts with an eye toward equity, but has indicated — at least for school aid — that permanent cuts would consider the needs of the communities impacted by the cuts.

“Going forward, in the absence of federal funding, all options will be on the table to mitigate the impact of a federal failure to act and offset the state’s revenue losses, which amount to $62 billion over four years,” he said.

Rehabilitation Support Services, which provides support and housing to adults with severe mental illnesses across the state, has been able to avoid massive layoffs and programmatic cuts so far, but the reduced funding has created issues, said John Paduano, a vice president for RSS in the Capital Region and central ����������.

“We’ve reduced some hours of services, but we haven’t had to do any major paring down,” Paduano said. “Our biggest concern is the supportive housing. If we go into the fourth quarter with a 20 percent withhold, then we’ll really be looking at having to cut back.”

What the fourth quarter will hold for service providers remains unknown. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has pushed the federal government to come through with a stimulus package that provides financial relief to state and local governments, but the entities experiencing reduction in state payments can no longer wait.

Some school districts in the Capital Region have already begun making cuts to staff and programs in anticipation of reductions.

“The longer you wait, the more difficult the cuts become,” said Bob Lowry, deputy director for the ���������� State Council of School Superintendents. “If you have to save $4 million out of a budget, it’s easier to do that if you start earlier than if you wait until halfway through the year.”