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Howard Center warns proposed cuts would reduce crisis and outreach capacity
Summary
Howard Center leaders told the committee that proposed governor’s budget cuts — including elimination of a $160,000 community outreach grant and a $78,304 embedded primary-care clinician position funded through EPSDT — would reduce crisis staffing and shift costs to municipalities.
Sandy McGuire, chief executive officer of the Howard Center, and Beth Holden, the center’s chief client services officer, told the House Human Services Committee that three cuts in the governor’s budget target Howard Center programs: a $160,000 community outreach grant, an embedded clinician position in a primary-care office supported by EPSDT funding (about $78,304), and funding that supports five crisis clinicians.
McGuire said Howard Center’s average days of cash on hand are about 13, although the organization averages 20 to 30 days most of the year. She said the agency has been operating with a program-related deficit for three years, uses a line of credit (not yet drawn) and that cash can be seasonal; she reported that in a…
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