Child abuse prevention office could get ax, state agency says

By SHANNON MUCHMORE Tulsa World Staff Writer
Published: 1/12/2011 2:26 AM
Last Modified: 1/12/2011 4:49 AM

OKLAHOMA CITY- If the Oklahoma State Department of Health is forced to cut its budget by 5 percent or more, it will have to eliminate the Office of Child Abuse Prevention, the health commissioner said Tuesday.

Terry Cline presented budget-cutting scenarios at a meeting of the state Board of Health. The responses to hypothetical cuts have been prepared at the request of the Office of State Finance.

The department was asked to examine how it would have to adjust to a 5 percent ($3.1 million), 7.5 percent ($4.7 million) or 10 percent ($6.2 million) cut. If any of these are implemented, child abuse prevention services will be eliminated, Cline said.

"This has been a very, very painful process," he said.

In the past two years, the department's budget has been cut by 15 percent, forcing layoffs of 300 employees and cuts across the board that have resulted in a significant reduction in services to the public, Cline said.

Anymore cuts would have to involve eliminating services, he said.

"We have, we believe, made the agency as lean as we possibly can," he said.

A cut of 7.5 percent would involve eliminating the Office of Child Abuse Prevention and cutting more than $1.5 million in state-appropriated money for Federally Qualified Health Centers, which provide care to people of all ages, regardless of their ability to pay.

For the 10 percent cut, the department would pull back more than $3 million in funding for the health centers, which is nearly all of the money used to reimburse them.

"I would hope that these cuts are not realized because the consequences would be far reaching," Cline said.  FULL STORY

I guess that means they aren't going to actually cut back on the kidnapping and Legal Abuse.