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Human services director outlines rising demand, grant awards in New Canaan budget presentation
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Summary
Marcy Rand told the council the town's human services served 1,201 household individuals at the food pantry and outlined grant awards and a $57,000 town ask incorporating opioid settlement funds and other sources.
Marcy Rand, Human Services director, told the New Canaan Town Council on March 31 that the town’s human services caseloads and food pantry use have grown and summarized program and grant requests for FY27. "1,201 household individuals have been served and 902 shoppers as of March," she said.
Rand listed program caseloads and services: 228 senior clients; approximately 169 families and 178 children served by the youth and family caseworker; and 17 domestic-violence cases recorded since November. She described energy-assistance and renter-rebate activity, a warm-up fund, back-to-school assistance, bereavement and grief support, crisis counseling, and a new mental-health-first-aid training schedule.
On outside-agency funding, Rand said the town will provide $25,000 toward a $50,000 matching grant with the Connecticut DOT, and she listed awards to local nonprofits: DVCC (requested $10,000; awarded as recorded), New Canaan Cares (requested $22,000; awarded $18,000 with a breakdown of town, youth-services grant and opioid-settlement contributions), Meals on Wheels (awarded $5,000), and New Canaan Urgent Assessment (awarded $40,000 with $15,000 from the town budget and $25,000 from the opioid settlement account).
When asked how long opioid-settlement funds will be available, Rand said, "I think it's up until 2039." She told the council the opioid-settlement funds are held in a dedicated account and estimated total available settlement proceeds roughly at $516,000 for the jurisdiction through 2039.
Rand’s overall FY27 departmental ask boiled down, she said, to approximately $57,000 in additional town funds once matching and settlement sources were accounted for; she also explained a budget-book allocation detail that moves part of her salary to the Lapham Center budget, affecting the departmental line item in the public book.
Next steps: Council members accepted the presentation; staff and council will reflect grant awards and settlement allocations in the budget discussions ahead of the public hearing.
