Local Leader Joins March On Harrisburg For Human Services
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County officials from across the state will be converging on Harrisburg Wednesday to rally for continued state funding for human service programs that the state requires counties to deliver to their citizens. At issue is a proposal by the legislature to cut its support for the Human Services Development Fund (HSDF). Human Services Administrator Jim Kockler (shown), who will represent Potter County at Wednesday’s rally, points out that his agency stands to lose tens of thousands of operating dollars, adding, “It couldn’t come at a worse time.”
HSDF is the one state funding stream that gives local agencies some flexibility in addressing competing priorities, whether they be services for senior citizens, the mentally ill, the addicted, the developmentally disadvantaged or victims of child abuse or neglect. HSDF was created to encourage county governments to provide services that meet locally identified needs. As Kockler explained during a recent news conference, most other state funds must be expended for specific program objectives. HSDF is the lone exception that allows counties some discretion, he added.
Seems to me the same old thing the commissioners been singin. They dont’ want the state telling them how to spend the money. Problem is folks they don’t tell Potter County how to spend their money, they not going to tell all the other counties either. Then where we gonna be? No funds for no one.