New budget hits social services

Local Meals on Wheels targeted



 

 

A proposed funding reduction for the Department of Health and Human Services has sparked concerns among local nonprofits that funding could be cut for programs like Meals on Wheels, which helps feed seniors in need.

The proposed reductions, unveiled last month by President Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, call for a $15-billion cut, almost 18 percent, in the department’s annual spending.

The recommended cuts include the elimination of Community Service Block Grants, which the 62-page budget report identifies as “duplicative of other federal programs,” and a “limited-impact program.” Also on the chopping block would be the Community Development Block Grants, which contributes funding to some Meals on Wheels programs.

There are also some concerns that the proposed reductions could translate into cuts in funding for the Older Americans Act, which accounts for up to 35 percent of Meals on Wheels’ funding nationally, according to Meals on Wheels America, a nonprofit network of 5,000 locally run programs throughout the nation.

“While we don’t know the exact impact yet, cuts of any kind to these . . . programs would be a devastating blow to our ability to provide much-needed care for millions of vulnerable seniors in America,” Meals on Wheels America president and CEO Ellie Hollander said in a statement.

For Senior Concerns, a nonprofit that partners with Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center to feed seniors in Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks, a reduction in block grant funding could be significant.

“It would certainly cause us to have to rethink funding so that we could continue the program,” said Andrea Gallagher, president of Senior Concerns and a columnist for the Acorn.

The program feeds about 100 seniors per day, Gallagher said.

“There are some folks that pay for their meal programs, and we provide scholarships, either partial or full scholarships, for folks that can’t,” she said. “So that would certainly cut into our ability to be able to care for the neediest of seniors who can’t afford the meals.”

The elimination of block grant funding could also affect other programs, she said, including scholarships for the Senior Concerns’ Adult Day Care program.

“The cuts impact Senior Concerns more broadly than just Meals on Wheels,” Gallagher said.

The potential cuts would not affect the Calabasas Meals on Wheels program, according to president Linda Bradley.

“I’ve never applied for federal funding, and I’ve never received it,” she said.

The program, which feeds 23 households in Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Canoga Park and West Hills, relies on donations rather than government funds.

Bradley said the potential cuts were reprehensible.

“Just because we’re not hurt by this doesn’t mean that other people are not going to be,” she said. “I mean, what’s more basic than seeing that people can eat?”

The idea of a possible funding reduction for the Older Americans Act stems from the fact that President Trump is seeking a 17.9 percent cut in HHS funding, which representatives of Meals on Wheels America think could result in some form of shortfall.

“It is difficult to imagine a scenario in which these critical services would not be significantly and negatively impacted if (the budget is) enacted into law,” the nonprofit said in a statement.

There was nothing in the budget report that specifically stated the act would receive less funding. There is a recommendation to eliminate block grants, which is estimated to save the Trump administration up to $2.8 billion annually. The recommended reductions are expected to help the president in his quest to increase military funding without adding to the federal deficit.

“The defense and public safety spending increases in this budget blueprint are offset and paid for by finding greater savings and efficiencies across the federal government,” Trump wrote in the report. “We are going to do more with less, and make the government lean and accountable to the people.”

If Trump’s proposal is approved and if there are other cuts, like reductions in the Older Americans Act funding stream, nonprofits will likely have to seek other avenues to bridge the financial shortfall.

Senior Concerns hopes to use events like the Love Run on June 4 to seek more donations, Gallagher said.

“If, indeed, this were to go through fairly quickly, hopefully it won’t, but if it was, we would certainly use the Love Run platform to see if we could get more donations, more runners, more sponsors, that sort of thing,” she said.

For more on Senior Concerns, call (805) 497-0189 or visit www.seniorconcerns.org. Calabasas Meals on Wheels can be reached at (818) 224-1777.


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