HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 26 FY08-09 Budget Allocations to Human Services Commission - Veteran Services Office
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Meeting Date: July 7,2008
Meeting Type: Regular Session
Department: City Manager's Office
Staff Contact: Jeff Towery A
S PRIN G FIE L D Staff Phone No: 3627 ' J\
C I T Y C 0 U N C I L Estimated Time: 10 Minutes
ITEM TITLE: FY08-09 BUDGET ALLOCATION TO HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION -
VETERAN SERVICES OFFICE
ACTION
REQUESTED:
Authorize/not authorize the expenditure of $20,000 to the Human Services
Commission for support to the Veteran Services Office.
ISSUE
STATEMENT:
The City allocated $128,394 from the General Funds, to the Human Services
Commission (HSC) in the FY08-09 budget, as well as $90,747 from the
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) fund. During deliberations by the
Budget Committee and City Council, there was support for setting aside an
additional $20,000 of General Fund money for Buckley House services, in the
event that Lane County budget cuts resulted in reductions in their programs. Lane
County was able to fully restore Buckley House funding but made other cuts to
HSC-funded services. Lane County has proposed that $20,000 from the City of
Springfield be matched with $37,000 from the City of Eugene to leverage nearly
$120,000 in State funds.in order to provide a variety of Veteran Services as outlined
in the attached letter. .
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Letter of Request from Steven M. Manela, Human Services
Commission Manager.
DISCUSSION/
FINANCIAL
IMPACT:
An affirmative vote would result in the expenditure of $20,000 currently in General
Fund reserves.
June 9, 2008
Gino Grimaldi, City Manager
Springfield City Manager
225 North 5th
Springfield, Oregon 97477
Dear Gino: -
Based on a discussion and request by Councilor Ralston at the May Human Services
Commission (HSC) meeting, the HSC is requesting that the City of Springfield allocate
the $20,000' it set aside for Buckley House Detoxification Center in the budget process
(pending the outcome of the County budget process) to be used instead to keep the
HSC Veterans Service Office operating a its current service level. The County Budget
Committee was able to fully restored $326,525 for Buckley House; however they were
not able to fully restore the funding for the HSCVeterans Service Office
The HSC Veteran Services Office advocates for Veterans, their families and their
survivors, to acquire disability, health and other benefits to which they are entitled by
virtue of their military service. The service office is located in Eugene and outreach is
provided to rural communities, nursing' homes, care facilities, and in-home for
housebound clients. $7.7 million in benefits were received by veterans as a result of
their work this year.
The County budgeted a reduced service level funding of $132,690 for the HSC
Veterans Office. An additional $57,000 is needed to keep a current seasonal position
and for materials and supplies. Funding will allow the office to continue to serve 1900
veterans their spouses and children and maintain in-home outreach services for seniors
and disabled shut-ins. The $20,000 of Springfield funds will be matched with $37,000
from City of Eugene revenue. This base line funding will insure continued receipt of
state funds of nearly $120,000.
If these funds were not received the impact to the veterans' service program would be:
o Loss of services to 250 Veterans and their families
o Longer waits for appointments
o. Delays forappointments can impact amount of awards (award is retro to date
of application)
o Delays in accessing local VSO assistance further aggravates the delays
inherent in the VA claims process
o Staff reductions curtail our ability to participate in state and local systems
coordination
o Applicants for Medicaid and SSI are required to first apply for VA benefits-
our delays will delay process for those benefits
Attachment 1
1
At the current service level veterans and their beneficiaries were awarded in FY 06-07:
o New recurring monthly benefits of $762,393
o One-time retroactive payments of $5,340,066
o Awards for short-term education benefits of $733,351
o Totally $7,744,632 was received asa direct result of working with staff at the
Veterans Services Office.
With the aging of the Vietnam Era veterans and the projected return of thousands of
National Guard members from Iraq to Oregon in the coming years, the demand for
services is expected to continue to grow over the next several years.
Originally, we had requested the $20,000 to maintain our non-profit agency payments,
given a continued reduction in the federal Community Development Block grant funding
received by Springfield to be used for human services. However, based on Councilor
Ralston's suggestion we have instead used one-time City of Eugene contingency funds
to maintain the. agency payments and are making this request on behalf of County
veterans.
Thank you for your consideration of this request,
Sincerely,
Steven M. Manela
Human Services Commission Manager
cc: Jeff Towery
Kevin Ko
Attachment 1
2