Nonprofits say services are already being cut as they plead for more funding

Beth Hines was at the capitol Wednesday, making the case for more funding for her Community Action Partners and other nonprofits.

Before she could attend a press conference, though, she had to close up Gordon’s House, a facility that housed men after they were released from prison.

“When people come out of prison, there’s a trauma that exists,” Hines said while trying to talk to lawmakers after the press conference.

The Alliance, an advocacy organization for nonprofits, said the Appropriations Committee’s budget proposal flat-funds nonprofits.

They warn that makes it harder for them to absorb rising costs, even if it does include more funding than the spending plan Gov. Ned Lamont presented back in February.

Hines said Gordon House was funding through opioid settlement funding funneled through Hartford.

When that money went away, CAP had to find new homes for the nine men who were staying there as they looked for jobs and housing.

Hines noted some of those men take as long as a year to find stable housing because of their records. Some may also be going through substance abuse or mental health counseling at the same time.

“These men were all working, contributing to the economy, tax-paying citizens and reconnecting with their families,” she said.

Democrats are in the midst of negotiating a final spending plan with Lamont before the session ends on June 4.

House Republicans plan to present their own proposal Thursday. Leaders on both sides said they are looking for ways to provide more help.

Nonprofits said they want more aid in the form of direct funding, but they also want the state to increase reimbursement rates paid when clients are on Medicaid.

Rep. Matt Ritter (D-Speaker) is among the bipartisan coalition of lawmakers who have said they want to increase Medicaid rates.

He had concerns that Congress will maintain subsidies that support that increase, though, especially as Republicans have vowed to cut at least $1.5 trillion from the federal budget.

“I stood there and said I wanted to do Medicaid with a lot of colleagues,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to Medicaid.”

Rep. Jay Case (R-Winchester) recognized that nonprofit service providers need more support from the state.

He said he wants to make sure funding goes directly to services, challenging nonprofits to rely on other funding sources for administrative costs.

“I want to see where the money is going, making sure that it’s not money used to actually run the nonprofits, making sure it’s money that’s actually getting to ground, to the people,” he said.