WHEREAS:

Title XX of the Social Security Act is the major source of federal funding to assist states in providing vital social services; and

WHEREAS:

Title XX strengthens the nation's social fiber by partially funding such programs as: child day care; homemaker and home aide services to vulnerable families with children and to handicapped or elderly persons; protective services to children and adults at risk; child welfare services; and social services directed to reduce dependency; and

WHEREAS:

The delivery of Title XX social services by state, county and local AFSCME members yields cost-effective social and economic benefits by: providing day care services to the children in low-income families that enable the working parent to avoid dependency on welfare; strengthening families in danger of disintegration; and by making it possible for elderly and disabled persons to remain in their homes and thus avoid the high cost of institutionalization; and

WHEREAS:

The capacity of states to deliver these essential services has been eroded by a 20 percent cut in Title XX federal funding in 1981 that has since not been restored; and

WHEREAS:

Title XX funding is subjected to the harsh requirements imposed by the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Act; and

WHEREAS:

Any further cuts in the Title XX social services appropriation would result in a serious deterioration of the nation's social structure at a price that it cannot afford.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That AFSCME urges the Congress to fully fund Title XX at the pre-1981 level with appropriate adjustment for inflationary increases.

SUBMITTED BY:

Bettye W. Roberts, President
Robert W. McEnroe, Executive Director
Council 1707
New York, New York