Providers warn against 4% POS cuts; staff outlines changes to advanced-payment contracting

A broad set of community providers urged the Dane County Health and Human Needs Committee on Thursday to reject the county-executive's proposed 4% reduction to purchase-of-service (POS) contracts, saying cuts would force staff reductions and reduce service capacity for high-need residents.

Scott Strong, executive director of Rise of Wisconsin, told the committee the proposed 4% cut would deepen workforce and cash-flow stress at nonprofit providers and urged the county to continue the county's 1/12 payment methodology. Mary Jo Olsen, director of community services at Journey Mental Health Center, said for her agency a 1% reduction translates to roughly $200,000 and would equate to about two case-manager positions and a loss of capacity to serve roughly 32 clients; she cautioned that some of her comparative cost figures referenced third-party sources. Luciana Gonzales, director of the emergency services unit at…