SRS budget debate focuses on program for children

? A House committee Thursday endorsed a proposed social services budget after acrimonious debate over where best to increase spending to help young children.

The Appropriations Committee recommended $2.33 billion in spending for the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services in the 2005 fiscal year, up 7.6 percent from the current budget.

Much of the increase reflects higher numbers of Kansans seeking medical services, and higher per-person costs for those services.

The committee scaled back one of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ major initiatives this year — a large increase in the $3.2 million budget for “Smart Start” programs, which help families of preschoolers in 19 counties with such services as parent education and day care.

Sebelius wanted to use $6.8 million from Kansas’ share of the 1998 settlement between states and tobacco companies to expand Smart Start programs throughout the state.

But the Appropriations Committee endorsed a subcommittee’s plan to expand Smart Start by just $4.3 million.

Of the rest of the tobacco money that Sebelius proposed to use, the committee agreed to use $500,000 to increase mental health services for children and $2 million to increase so-called family preservation services that help keep children out of foster care.

Sebelius had proposed to keep family preservation funding unchanged next year at $9.9 million.

Debate over how much to spend for Smart Start and how much to add to family preservation funding drove Rep. Brenda Landwehr to tears. Landwehr, R-Wichita, chairs the budget subcommittee on social services.

Here’s the House Appropriations Committee’s proposed budget for the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services:¢ Current: $2.164 billion.¢ 2005: $2.329 billion.¢ Increase: $164.9 million, or 7.6 percent.

Landwehr said failure to divert some proposed Smart Start money to family preservation would leave some troubled families without the help that would keep children out of foster homes.

“Is that what the state of Kansas wants?” she said. “We didn’t think so.”

But some Appropriations Committee members noted that Sebelius’ plan was designed to bring Smart Start programs to all parts of the state. Rep. Joe Shriver accused Landwehr of rushing work on the SRS budget.

“We’re supposed to spend $2 billion and trust that everything’s been looked at?” said Shriver, D-Arkansas City. “I don’t like the way this budget is being presented.”

SRS Secretary Janet Schalansky said Sebelius had considered expanding family preservation services but concluded that Smart Start represented a better long-term investment.

Cindy D’Ercole, lobbyist for the group Kansas Action for Children, said, “It seems unfortunate that to fund one, we have to take money from the other.”


On the Net:

Kansas Legislature: http://www.kslegislature.org

SRS: http://www.srskansas.org/