KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
A Providence Kodiak Island Counseling Center program that helps families in crisis is currently undergoing a financial crisis of its own. The Family Support Services Program is set to lose 65-thousand dollars, the bulk of its funding, because of what its clinician, Sheila Horton, says is a state mistake.
— (Family 1 47 sec "The reason the state … look at our grant proposal.")
Horton said she wrote the proposal asking for 150-thousand dollars, which is what the RFP, or request for proposals, says is the maximum request. But the actual cap is 100-thousand dollars, and as Horton said, her proposal was not even looked, because it exceeded that amount.
She described the scope of her program, and how important it is to families with children:
— (Family 2 45 sec "It’s a program to help … support service program.")
She said the program is generally voluntary, but can be court-ordered, too. The 65-thousand dollars it usually receives in pass-through funding from the federal government via the state, is supplemented by Providence, to pay for training and other costs. Horton said she saw the potential to hire a second person for the program with the increased funding. Now the program is in danger of folding, since it lost its funding at the end of June.
— (Family 3 47 sec "And it’s so cost effective … that isn’t covered.)
She says she is appealing the state’s decision not to consider her grant proposal, and is looking for letters of support from other human service organizations in Kodiak.
###
