Budget cuts hit Jewish social service agencies
By Kristin Erekson
The Jewish Advocate
The state's hefty budget cuts have left leaders of Jewish organizations scrambling to examine staffing levels and preparing to inform clients of reductions in assistance.
The Jewish Vocational Service of Greater Boston (JVS) is one non-profit feeling the heat, since it learned in early November that it had lost $100,000 from an earmark set aside by the Legislature for its Career Mentoring Program, according to Kelly Tessitore, vice president of the organization's Center for Careers & Lifelong Learning.
Currently mentoring 30 individuals – who do not have to be Jewish to participate – JVS' service educates people on how to retain their jobs and advance in their careers. But, Tessitore said, the $100,000 from the Legislature is the program's sole source of funding, leaving JVS officials unclear about what will happen in the future.
"This is absolutely ridiculous," she added, noting that this is the second year the career-counseling curriculum has been in operation. As of press time, Tessitore was geared up to rally with hundreds of people outside of the Massachusetts State House on Wednesday, calling Gov. Mitt Romney to account for slashing nearly $400 million from the state's budget.
"[Romney] has cut very, very essential services … There have been contracts executed, monies obligated and costs incurred. This is not how [a government] is supposed to be run," she said.
To complicate the matter, Tessitore added, JVS has acquired about $36,000 in expenses since July 1 – money that the organization thought the earmark would cover – with the state picking up the tab for $6,500 of that amount. In the face of debt, Tessitore said she has stopped setting up mentoring matches and has already let go of a "well-liked and devoted" full-time employee.
"We have high hopes for Gov.-Elect Deval Patrick and his team to come in and look at what was cut and essentially restore some of it," she added.
On Nov. 10, under his 9C authority, Romney used his emergency fiscal control to balance the budget after the Legislature overspent by nearly $500 million, according to Felix Browne, a spokesman for the governor. In order to bridge the gap created by the spending, Browne said, the Legislature proposed to "raid" the state's "rainy-day fund."
"This account should be off limits unless there is a fiscal emergency," Browne wrote in an e-mail to the Advocate. "The Governor balanced the budget because he has a constitutional duty to do so."
The cuts totaled 1.7 percent of the state's $25.7 billion budget.
On Dec. 1, Romney reinstated $41.4 million to the social services funds. The reason: "Stronger than expected November revenues made it possible to restore funding," Browne noted.
But State Senator Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland) said the cuts will be "very severe and devastating for some." Spilka added that several neutral think tanks that monitor the Commonwealth's activities – such as the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center – have never hinted that there is a fiscal emergency.
"This has nothing to do with the state or the people of Massachusetts … This is for [Romney] to set the stage for his presidential run," Spilka said. "I take it seriously to ensure that immediate residents have a safety net. I grew up with the belief of Hadassah and helping others. So for him to cut so much of that, it shows how far behind we are. It's really a shame."
While some of the cutbacks have been made clear, several organizations are still unsure of how much funding they lost. For Dr. Seymour J. Friedland, executive director of the Jewish Family and Children's Service of Greater Boston (JF&CS), his concern lies in programs like early intervention – a service that helps children with developmental delays. JF&CS currently has an early intervention program in Norwood, which works with 125 families at any one time.
"This program hasn't had an increase in funding for many years," Friedland added. "Basically, it makes it extremely difficult to recruit staff and even more difficult to compete in the marketplace."
Gov.-Elect Patrick has the power to reverse Romney's actions once he takes office. In an e-mail to the Advocate, Patrick's communications director, Richard Chacon, said that the new governor does not "believe that significant depletion of the rainy-day fund is fiscally responsible, and will review cuts where necessary and prudent, to balance the budget."
Irit Tamir, director of government affairs at the Jewish Community Relations Council, said that it's the peoples' duty to make a lot of noise to reverse the reductions.
Added Tamir: "These cuts will affect vulnerable populations … the ones we care about."
