Earlier
today, CWLA and other national organizations held a briefing on Capitol
Hill to highlight the important work that is funded by the Social
Services Block Grant (SSBG) and the very real damage that would be
caused if it were
eliminated as called for in a
plan approved by the House of Representatives earlier this year. John
Sciamanna from the National Foster Care Coalition opened the briefing
with a plea to Congress to support SSBG and to reject efforts to
eliminate it.
Other
speakers included Delegate Samuel Rosenberg, vice-chair of the Maryland
House of Delegates Ways and Means Committee, Bob Suver, Director of
Clark County Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Jerry Davis,
Vice-President for National Advocacy and Public Policy at Boys Town, and
Cecile Noel, Executive Deputy Commissioner at the New York City Human
Resources Administration. The speakers described the critical needs
SSBG meets in their communities and how this resource is not available
anywhere else. The flexible funding structure of SSBG was also touted as
an effective feature of the block grant. It was noted that
approximately 12% of SSBG funds support child welfare services.
Additionally, child protective services (CPS) receives many hundreds of
millions more in funding from SSBG each year than from the Child Abuse
Prevention and Treatment Act that sets CPS mandates for protecting
children.
On
May 10, the House passed H.R. 5652, which would eliminate SSBG and make
drastic cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program among others. President Obama has threatened to veto the bill
and the Senate has shown no interest in taking it up. Still, the bill’s
passage is important because as the looming 2013 sequestration deadline
approaches, pressure to replace or eliminate these cuts will increase.
This bill demonstrates just how the House seeks to do so and may come
into play during post-election negotiations.
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