WASHINGTON - House Republicans are preparing to approve a Reconciliation Bill this week that would permanently eliminate the Social Services Block Grant, ending a program signed into law by President Reagan that is vital for at-risk children, seniors and people with disabilities at the same time as they push for deep tax cuts for the very wealthiest Americans. The program was set up in 1981 to provide states with flexible funding to meet challenging social service needs. Advocates for at-risk children, the disabled, and the elderly, as well as organizations representing faith-based charities and states have all urged Congress to reject this policy. Below are excerpts of their comments and statements from Ways and Means Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) and Human Resources Subcommittee Ranking Member Lloyd Doggett (D-TX):
Rep. Sander Levin: “House Republicans continue to make their priorities crystal clear: more tax cuts for the very wealthiest households paid for by axing programs vital to children, seniors and people with disabilities. A decade ago, Democrats and Republicans fought together to preserve this program. Now the only people Republicans are seeking to protect are the nation’s top earners, who would reap another financial windfall under the GOP proposal."
Rep: Lloyd Doggett: “The Republican Reconciliation bill to eliminate the Social Services Block Grant is really a ‘wreckonciliation ’ bill, shredding an important safety net for disabled seniors, abused children, and victims of child and elder abuse, while asking nothing from the wealthiest corporations that ship jobs and profits overseas. It is ironic that at a time when Republicans are telling us we need to block grant Medicaid, we are told that this particular block grant program, signed into law by President Reagan, should be abolished."
LETTERS ARE AVAILABLE IN THEIR ENTIRETY HERE
The Arc:
The proposal “to eliminate the Social Services Block Grant could harm people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. The program provides people with developmental disabilities with individualized supports, such as: locating and maintaining housing; landlord relations; job search; budgeting...;and accessing medical and mental health care."
National Foster Care Coalition:
“SSBG is a major funder for state and local child abuse prevention services, child protective services, and it supplements services for adoptions...[eliminating this program will therefore] hurt some of this nation’s most vulnerable families and children."
Conference of Catholic Bishops:
“The Social Services Block Grant is an important source of funding for programs throughout the country that serve vulnerable members of our communities - the homeless, the elderly, people with disabilities, children living in poverty, and abuse victims. We should prioritize programs that serve ‘the least of these,’ not eliminate them."
Catholic Charities:
“Everyday thousands of individuals who are disabled, children, preschoolers, homeless, elderly, or at risk of being abused are receiving services because of SSBG funding...we reject the notion that those most vulnerable among us should feel the greatest impact of future reductions [in the budget]."
Letter from Faith Based Organizations, including the Jewish Federations of America:
“SSBG plays an important role in the types of services provided by our organizations to low-income people. The elimination of funding would disproportionately impact the most vulnerable populations by impairing our ability to provide services that help children in need of child care, youth in need of intervention and prevention services, and older Americans and persons with disabilities who might otherwise need to be placed in institutional care."
Easter Seals:
“The Social Services Block Grant is a critical resource that enables Easter Seals affiliates throughout the country to provide quality services that support the independence of people with disabilities."
The Child Welfare League of America:
“The Social Services Block Grant has long supported our most vulnerable children...39 States use SSBG funds for child abuse and neglect prevention."
Coalition on Human Needs:
“...this extreme cut will deny protections to millions of children and older people who are victims of abuse or neglect - a truly reckless choice."
National Women’s Law Center:
“With record number of women and children living in poverty... and only one in six children eligible for federal child care assistance receiving help, this is no time to cut funding for social services."
The National Conference of State Legislators:
“...we write in opposition to the permanent elimination of the Social Services Block Grant...The SSBG gives states flexibility to provide a critical range of services that serve poor families, protect children and the elderly from abuse and neglect, and keep the elderly and the disabled in their own homes rather in institutions."
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
“States are in no position to replace lost SSBG funds by increasing their own funding. States have imposed nearly $300 billion in spending cuts over the past five years to close recession-induced budget gaps."
The American Public Human Services Association:
“SSBG funds are used by states and local communities to serve the needs of many at risk populations from children at risk to the elderly in need of care. To characterize the SSBG program as duplicative illustrates a lack of understanding of how states use federal funds to meet the unique needs of their states."
