2010 Budget Cuts Summary

The 2010 cuts summarized below are in ADDITION TO the 2009 cuts.

AHCCCS and Health Care cuts

• 310,000 individuals proposed to be cut from AHCCCS health care based on Governor’s proposal to
significantly scale back AHCCCS voter mandated Prop 204 health care coverage.
• 47,000 children lose health care with the elimination of KidsCare. THE ENROLLMENT CAP CONTINUES FOR KIDSCARE. While both of these cuts have been restored, they were only restored because of Health Care Reform and the threat of loss of up to $8billion dollars in federal funds. The restorations of the AHCCCS cuts are contingent upon enhanced federal matching funds.

• Community health centers have essentially lost all of their $14 million dollars of state funds basically cutting their fee based programs for low income families without health care coverage. Thousands of families are impacted.

Behavioral Health cuts

• 17,000 seriously mentally ill adults face dramatic reductions in services if federal matching funds are not restored.
• 4,200 children to lose behavioral health services leaving children and families with no where to turn.
• 6,600 people losing substance abuse services — leaving families abandon to addictions and children in those families at greater risk, stuck in the child welfare system, or people jailed or deaths or more emergency rooms visits and 911 calls. This is both cost shifting to local governments and other people and business paying health insurance premiums.
• 11,000 people getting general mental health services — except for some very limited medication and medication management services. THIS CUT IS BEING IMPLEMENTED OVER THE NEXT 60 DAYS.

Human Services cuts

• TANF cuts are projected to be up to 17,000 families (most female-headed) with 39,000 participants, mostly children are proposed to lose cash assistance — for families already by definition very poor driving these families into deeper poverty.
• 20,000 children have been denied child care on a so-called turn away list with many more to be turned away from child care with child care permanently closed for the foreseeable future stopping families from working and putting children at risk.
• There are no longer 100% investigations of child protection or adult protection referrals and continued elimination of family support services.
• The system of in home family services has already been cut severely in the 2009/2010 cuts and will now be cut even with more families losing services and their children potentially going into foster care.
• Cuts in emergency services (eviction prevention, homeless prevention, etc) services for families in crisis effecting meaning 1,100 fewer families will receive emergency services.
• Cuts in domestic violence services reducing service to 1,600 victims of domestic violence will be turned away from shelters.
• Cuts in aging independent living services impacting hundreds of elderly and people with disabilities.
• Eliminate support for grandparents caring for their grandchildren.
• Eliminate state only supported services for children and adults with developmental disabilities throwing 300 children and 400 adults off services.

Department of Housing

The Department of Housing has been reduced to pass through agency for federal funds. Over $35 million dollars have been “swept” to fund general government leaving eviction prevention and homeless and new low income programs scrambling for funding.

REFERRAL OF FIRST THINGS FIRST TO THE NOVEMBER BALLOT

The Legislature referred the potential elimination of First Things First early childhood and education program funded by a tax on tobacco to the ballot.