March 6, 2000

The Honorable Representative James Oberstar
2365 Rayburn Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative Oberstar:

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota requests your assistance in protecting Title XX of the Social Security Act, the Social Service Block Grant (SSBG), by restoring the appropriation to $2.38 billion and continuing to allow states to transfer up to 10 percent of their Temporary Assistance to Needy Families funds to SSBG.

As someone who is vitally concerned about these matters, I do not need to remind you about how the Social Services Block Grant has allowed states--including Minnesota--the flexibility to provide vital services for families, children, older persons and persons with disabilities.

As the Congress determines what the priorities should be for the next fiscal year LSS urges you to work with your colleagues to place this block grant at the top of that list. In more difficult budget times this program has contributed more than its fair share to deficit reduction, and SSBG should therefore be a priority to benefit from spending of the surplus. SSBG services and the recipients they benefit have already been jeopardized by previous cuts of over a billion dollars within a five-year period. Lower SBG funding levels have forced numerous reductions in services in recent years, including the following examples:

· Lower SSBG funding levels have forced an adolescent and teen at-risk program in Plainfield, New Jersey to cut staff, and in turn, serve fewer vulnerable youth.

· The Epilepsy Center Services in Toledo, Ohio relies on SSBG for 69% of their budget; reductions meant cutting medication assistance to low income clients and support to teens.

· In Minnesota, Ramsey County has had to reduce by 50% homemaker services for the elderly, as well as eliminate funding for the Second Harvest Food Assistance Program and a program that provided support to parents at risk of maltreating their children.

· In Herkimer County, New York two foster care caseworkers and one part-time Foster Care Independent Living caseworker were abolished.

· Clay County, Iowa was forced to implement waiting lists for community-based treatment services for the mentally-ill and developmentally disabled.

· The Voluntary Action Center in Rochester, Pennsylvania, which relies on SSBG for 1/3 of its budget, is now assisting fewer homeless clients due to the SSBG cuts.

We recognize the tremendous challenge the Congress has in remaining fiscally responsible as you move through the FY2001 budget process. However, now that the surplus is reducing the deficit, it is once again time to make the Social Services Block Grant a funding priority by providing $2.38 billion in this upcoming budget.

Thank you for your consideration. If Lutheran Social Service can be of any assistance in this effort, perhaps by highlighting ways in which cuts have degraded social service in Minnesota, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,


John T. Clawson, Director
Office of Public Policy and Advocacy

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