Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Budget Hearings Beginning To Heat Up

From Percy Malone

State Representative

Legislataive budget hearings are gathering momentum as the starting date nears for the convening of the 81 Arkansas General Assembly.

Legislators have been meeting weekly since October to review budget proposals submitted by the various commissions, offices, departments and agencies of state govenment. The budget hearings provide the ground work for formal actions beginning in January on state budgets for the coming two years.

A major undertaking in recent weeks has been review of budgets submitted by the state Department of Human Services (DHS), an agency that employs almost 8,000 people and which provides a variety of programs and services that touch the lives of hundreds of thousands of Arkansans.

While many of the programs delivered by the Department of Human Services have been available in the state for tens of decades, the department's organization dates to 1971. The General Assembly that year approved Act 38, which created the Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services to bring together in a single organization a variety of separate but related agencies.

According to an agency summary provided to legislators, the purpose of the reorganization was to improve the state's delivery of human services and to optimize the use of federal funds available to the state. In 1977 the organization was renamed the Department of Human Services.

Over the course of its almost 26-year life, the department has undergone numerous changes, including a reorganization in 1985, and officials earlier this year were discussing seriously a proposal for yet another major overhaul.

The intent of these changes has been to improve the department's ability to meet its formal mission: "To provide quality services, within available resources, which enable people to maximize their potential and to increase their abilities; preserve and enhance human dignity and worth; and prevent or reduce the need for services."

The Department of Human Services now maintains nine major program divisions: Aging and Adult Serices, Services for the Blind, Children and Family Services, County Operations, Developmental Disabilities Services, Medical Services, Mental Health Services, Volunteer Services and Youth Services.

Other DHS support operations are housed in the director's office, the office of chief counsel and in administrative services.

The department this year has an authorized budget of almost $2 billion, but almost two-thirds of the funding comes from the federal government as matching funds to finance the Medicaid program and to provide a host of other support efforts, including Aid to Families with Dependent Children and services for the disabled.

Financial support for Medicaid, which provides medical services for the poor and disabled, represents almost two-thirds of the total DHS budget. Medicaid covers hospital medical services, prescription drugs and long- term care services. Federal funding this year will account for about 73 percent of Medicaid program costs in Arkansas.

Services provided by the state Department of Human Services are some of the most important delivered by state government. The budget decisions to be made in the coming months will affect the department operations for years to come. The decisions also will affect the lives of thousands of Arkansans who now benefit from the programs and services delivered by DHS.