Gibbons’ budget hits Clark County social services

Monday, Feb. 16, 2009 | 12:49 p.m.

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Download Gov. Jim Gibbons' proposed budget

Thomas Morton, director of the Clark County Department of Family Services, told a legislative budget subcommittee Monday that he cannot implement Gov. Jim Gibbons’ proposed 6 percent pay cut.

Without layoffs, Morton said he would have to keep vacant 32 to 49 positions to achieve the proposed $2.4 million reduction in the state’s allocation to Clark County to run the department. That would mean putting more administrative duties on case workers and giving them less time to spend with clients, he said.

The state supplies money to the county for welfare services, which includes foster care licensing, adoption and family services.

The Senate Finance and the Assembly Ways and Means Committee heard a number of pleas to maintain social services budgets.

Gard Jameson of the Children Advance Alliance of Southern Nevada, urged the committee to continue funding state services to maintain a federal match.

Peter Ediger of Family Promise told lawmakers they must make an effort to keep families intact “in these economic troubled times.”

And Tom Waite of Boys Town of Nevada said with the economy performing poorly the stress on families becomes worse.

Committee members also were concerned about a planned reduction in block grants to local governments to help children get counseling and keep them out of the state’s juvenile detention facilities.

The budget of the governor cuts 88 beds from the state’s juvenile detention centers in Las Vegas, Caliente and Elko. There’s been a 16 percent decline in commitments to these centers.

Diane Comeaux, director of the state Division of Child and Family Service, told the committees she asked for an increase of $490,000 a year to help keep these children in their communities and provide such things as substance abuse programs.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, said it was “very disturbing” that the governor’s budget cuts the grants to counties by $40,000 and yet he is also decreasing the beds in the reformatories. Leslie said the grants help keep children in communities for treatment, rather than sending them to the correction centers.

Comeaux, in her budget request, asked to increase the grants to counties to more than $1 million a year but the governor put in $609,291 in each of the coming two fiscal years. In the 2007-2008 fiscal year, the grant amount to the counties was also $609,291.

Discussion: 8 comments so far…

By neiman1

2/16/09 at 9:42 p.m.

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When will people figure out the money is staying home in other states. There is no money and there will be less money now that Obama made coming to Las Vegas a waste of money for companies.
By johnevegas

2/17/09 at 3:07 a.m.

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Neiman, you remind me of the old 8-Track tape player. Same old song every few minutes, sounding a little bit worse every time around.
By KillerB

2/17/09 at 6:46 a.m.

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Gotta love that 8-track analogy. Coming from that era ... well, it's true.

Cut the budgets! That should force them to focus on the caseload that really matters and stop meddling in people's lives, like taking kids away from parents for accidents or botched police raids.
By redferret

2/17/09 at 8:02 a.m.

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How can there be less than zero money coming in? And Obama didn't say it's a waste of money for companies to come here. He said people receiving government money shouldn't be having lavish junkets on the government's dime. There's a huge difference, but you are evidently tone deaf.
By jfnance32

2/17/09 at 8:34 a.m.

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Johnevegas sounds like a 8-track whiny song who just goes arounds whining about what other people put in their post.
By johnevegas

2/17/09 at 9:12 a.m.

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If you're going to defend that idiocy Jim, you're gonna lose. Credibility. Big time!

Though I do not agree with most of what you say, at least I find relevance in your words and respect the effort you make to bring some knowledge and depth to the table.

Neiman is more of a Don Rickles intellectual, except not that deep. He just keeps picking on the same people and saying the same things over and over.

That helps you? Good for you. I consider it a waste of time. Scat in the yard my friend. Nothing more.
By jfnance32

2/17/09 at 9:45 a.m.

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Is your whiny 8-track stuck?
By gmag39

2/17/09 at 10:15 a.m.

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This is another "Jim Gibbons Bites Off Nose To Spite Face" stories. Despite what our anti-tax contingent will argue, we can't afford NOT to fund some of these programs. Not only in terms of social responsibility, but in LONG-TERM
COSTS. There is cause & effect when the bottom falls out of the safety net.