| Summary of Mayor's Executive Budget
on HIV targeted cuts.
Released 4/16/03
In his FY 04 Executive Budget, Mayor Bloomberg presents two scenarios
to meet the City's projected $ 3.8 billion dollar deficit. The first
scenario calls for an agency gap closing plan of $675 million. The
second scenario is a $1 billion "contingency plan" of additional
cuts that will be implemented to the extent that financing actions
required by the State do not take place. In both scenarios, people
living with HIV will lose life sustaining services.
In Mayor Bloomberg's $675 million gap closing plans, people living
with HIV/AIDS will be devastated in at least 2 areas: 1.) a $5 million
dollar Community of Color HIV Initiative is not restored, leaving
the City helpless to the escalating HIV rates in high risk populations.
2.) An additional $1million cut to HIV services will be implemented
by folding in the Mayor's Office of HIV/AIDS Policy Coordination
(MOAP) into the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH).
This move would seriously undermine the purpose and efficacy of
MOAP, as the coordinator of HIV services across all city agencies,
including and not limited to DOHMH. MOAP plays a critical role in
the check and balance oversight of the City's Ryan White Title I
funds.
Also problematic in the gap closing plan is an announcement to
reduce HASA's budget by $1 million, achieved by contracting out
HIV/AIDS case management for approximately 30,000 cases and reducing
its workforce by 29 caseworkers. While the concept of contracting
out case management services to CBO that can better provide the
service warrants further analysis, the City must not precede unless
it ensures that a maintenance of effort stipulation is upheld and
critical services that only HASA can provide are strengthened.
The Mayor's Contingency Plan cuts even deeper into HIV services.
In a move that is currently illegal because of protections mandated
in Local Law 49, the Mayor proposes to totally eliminate City funded
case managers at HASA. This move would decimate HASA, reducing its
staffing by 400 members and reducing its budget by $18.8 million.
To make matters worst, the Contingency Plan also reduces HIV/AIDS
housing contracts by 10% for 4000 HASA clients, reducing payment
to service providers by $4.9 million.
© 2003 Gay Men's Health Crisis
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