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Philly bracing for big cuts in Pa. budget

THE CITY'S mental-health, homeless and human-services programs would be cut to the bone should Gov. Corbett's proposed budget pass, and city officials warn that it's bad news for Philly's most vulnerable residents.

THE CITY'S mental-health, homeless and human-services programs would be cut to the bone should Gov. Corbett's proposed budget pass, and city officials warn that it's bad news for Philly's most vulnerable residents.

Corbett's proposed $27.1 billion budget calls for spending $20 million less than last year and no increases to broad-based taxes.

During a presentation before the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, Rob Dubow, the city's finance director, said the city would be faced with $40.9 million in cuts.

"We've been through years and years of cutting," Dubow said.

"Every year there's less and less we can do to react to new cuts."

The Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services would be hit hardest, having to trim an estimated $33 million, and the Health Department would need to cut an estimated $6.5 million.

More than 400 community residential beds would be eliminated, as well as case-management services for people with chronic severe mental illness and those with substance-abuse issues.

Homeless-outreach services would be reduced, and detoxification, residential-rehab inpatient and outpatient treatment would be eliminated.

Additionally, there would be a loss of hospice beds for those with AIDS; a reduction in nursing-home beds and maternal- and child-health services, including those for families with children of special needs; and prenatal care for the uninsured.

"What that means is, people who would be institutionalized will lose a lot of their supports, and people who have serious substance-abuse issues won't be able to get treatment in a timely fashion," said Donald Schwarz, deputy mayor for health and opportunity, adding that support services for those with intellectual disabilities will disappear.

"These are huge cuts," Schwarz said. "We've not seen anything like this before."

The cuts could jeopardize $24 million in federal funds for the city's HIV/AIDS programs, may lead to an increase in homeless and prison populations, and more costs for the Department of Human Services and more demand for emergency shelter.

Corbett proposed combining funding for several human-service programs in the state budget to give counties the opportunity to assign funding.

Dubow said the city was working on its legislative strategy to push the state to restore some funding, and state legislators are raising a stink, too.

"If Philadelphia crumbles, or sectors of the Philadelphia system crumble, it doesn't impact the city by itself but the entire region," said state Sen. Vincent Hughes, adding that he and other Democrats are fighting to restore the cuts by pushing the Corbett administration to pull federal money from other line items.

It's not yet clear if the city will make up the cuts by raising taxes.

City Council President Darrell Clarke has said he wants to avoid raising taxes, and mayoral spokesman Mark McDonald said the focus for now is on determining the impact of the potential cuts.

The Nutter administration will present its budget March 8.