Genesee County officials today learned that its mental health department will be getting 20 percent less in state aid this year.
The cut equates to a loss of $132,710 in revenue for mental health clinical services in the county, said Assistant County Manager Matt Landers.
“We’ve been told all along that there would be cuts of 20 to 50 percent,” Landers said. “We’ve been bracing for that.”
The county’s budget for the mental health department for 2020-21 is $5.6 million, he said, with state aid just one part of the revenue stream.
New York State took a bigger chunk – a 31-percent cut – out of its annual support to the Office of Addiction Services and Supports, action that will have a direct impact upon services provided by Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse.
“Just in the third quarter alone, this is a $160,000 loss in state aid, with $134,000 of that for Genesee County,” GCASA Executive Director John Bennett said. “Not only will this affect services, but it could very well result in potential layoffs.”
Bennett mentioned that the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program loan will help soften the blow somewhat.
There has been no word on cuts to the state Office of People with Developmental Disabilities (formerly Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities).
In another development, Landers said the county has called back 19 of the 48 employees who were furloughed, including a Department of Motor Vehicles worker needed to help process a heavy load of work since the office reopened.
The furlough program ends on July 31, said Landers, adding that the county’s strategic hiring freeze continues.
