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Motion, expressing the Sense of Council of Allegheny County, urging the General Assembly to restore funding for the Human Services Development Fund in such amount as to reimburse Allegheny County for the funding advanced to the program; and, further, to continue funding for critical programs.
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WHEREAS, in March of 2003, the Governor's fiscal year 2003-2004 budget was approved, containing a reduction of Human Services Development Funds (HSDF) allocated to Allegheny County from $4,685,878 to $78,011, or 98% of the funds allocated to the County in the 2002-2003 budget; and these funds were essentially carried over from the prior fiscal year; and
WHEREAS, following the budget's passage, the Governor and General Assembly indicated their intent to enter into budget negotiations and numerous assurances were made that every effort would be made to restore the funding for specific programs, including the HSDF Program; and
WHEREAS, Allegheny County, acting in good faith and reliance upon those assertions, provided an allocation of funding to continue HSDF programs for the month of July 2003 in order to ensure minimal disruption of services, hoping that lawmakers and the governor would resolve the budget impasse and restore funding; and
WHEREAS, Allegheny County actively reallocated sources to address the reduction in funding while still ensuring that the most critical programs have been continued; and
WHEREAS, since that time, Allegheny County has provided two additional allocations of $1,015,000 and $263,000 in funding to continue HSDF Programs that provide critical services to approximately 10,000 needy residents of the County through the end of December 2003; and
WHEREAS, in making the decision to provide funding for the HSDF Program, policy makers took into consideration that loss of these programs would interrupt or eliminate programs such as in-home services for disabled adults; life skills to parents and caregivers to prevent ...
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