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County Commissioners Jump on Block Grant Bandwagon

County commissioners across Pennsylvania are calling for a statewide expansion of a relatively new effort to change the way the state funds human services programs.  The state launched a pilot program where human service funds once earmarked for seven different services are instead all put into a single pot.

Currently 20 counties receive funding this way.  Critics fought hard last year to keep the program limited.  But the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania wants it made available to all counties. Spokeswoman Lisa Schaefer takes issue with the criticism that the block grant funding approach introduces a fight for funding between programs.

“Well the fight for funding goes on across all of our human services line items, we’ve seen that across the board regardless of the block grant concept,” sais Schaefer.   “The point of the block grant is to better treat an individual as opposed to having that funding stuck within the various line items.”