HSC Hands NY State Legislators a Mandate From Constituents: Preserve Human Services

By Dave Lucas

Albany, NY – The Human Services Council of New York (HSC), its upstate partners, and people who rely on human services programs visited the state capitol today to deliver the initial results of an online petition drive and state-wide campaign to protect human services programs from the steep $400 million in funding cuts proposed by Governor Cuomo. Capital District Bureau Chief Dave Lucas was there and files this report.

The petition was presented to State Senator Diane Savino, Chair of the Senate Committee on Children and Families - Savino is a former New York City Social Services caseworker.

"The thousands of signed petitions we've received show how important it is to our communities that human service programs like day care, afterschool programs, senior centers, employment services, supportive housing and mental health services are saved from being slashed," said Michael Stoller, Executive Director of HSC. "Compounding high unemployment and so much financial uncertainty with cuts to vital services will be devastating to New Yorkers. The message today is that policymakers need to make human services a higher priority."

"I firmly believe that as a society we need to give families and children the supports they need to survive and to thrive," said Senator Savino. "Often a little bit of help from a social service agency can go a long way in preventing more serious problems, and at a lower cost to taxpayers."

Michael Stoller, HSC's Executive Director, pointed out that many New Yorkers are one layoff, one foreclosure or one catastrophic illness away from needing to tap into one of the available human services programs. State budget decisions are in progress now, and the advocates stress that the days leading up to the budget adoption on April 1 are critical to build support to preserve the programs.

Since HSC, a nonprofit which represents thousands of nonprofits, launched the "Who Cares? I Do." campaign on February 14, over 2,000 individuals and nonprofit organizations, representing nearly 3 million residents from counties throughout New York State, including the Bronx, Westchester, Suffolk, Greene, Albany, Oneida, Jefferson, Rensselaer, Onondaga and Erie, have signed the petition.