In early July, Governor Nixon announced the need to withhold an additional $60 million in state spending to fill a revenue shortfall in the Fiscal Year 2010 budget. $20 million of this has been targeted to the Department of Social Services and nearly $6 million to the Department of Health & Senior Services. These cuts unfairly burden services for our most vulnerable Missourians.

Some of the proposed cuts impacting children, families, seniors, and people with disabilities include:

·       Creating a waiting list for child care assistance

·       Elimination of state Early Head Start funding

·       Reducing Educare grants for home-based child care

·       Cutting funding for Community Partnerships (i.e. LINC, ARCHS)

·       Severe cuts to Crisis Nurseries

·       Elimination of Child abuse prevention pilot projects

·       Eliminating Adoption Resource Centers

·       Independence school district prevention program reduced

·       Reducing staff for the Family Care Safety Registry, resulting in a backlog of background check requests

·       Reducing inspectors for child care programs and long-term care facilities

·       Creating a waiting list for in-home services for seniors

·       Scaling back tobacco prevention programs

We need your help to speak out about these unfair cuts. Sign our Petition to Governor Nixon: Protect Missouri’s most vulnerable citizens in the budget!