State legislatures also took a holiday the last two weeks of December so we thought it would be helpful to round up the reports of note regarding the topic most pressing to states: ongoing budget deficits.  2011 looks to be a year of serious policy discussions regarding funding of key health and human services programs and potential state government reorganization.

In setting the context for the upcoming budget and priority setting discussions in the current fiscal year, we point you to three studies released recently that form a broad picture of funding for services at the state and local levels:

States Continue to Feel Recession's Impact, December 16, 2010 by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. A review of state budget shortfalls in 2010, 2011 and 2012, cuts made to services to vulnerable populations and federal initiatives to support states.

Center On Budget & Policy Prioities 

The Fiscal Survey of the States, Fall 2010, National Governor's Association, National Association of State Budget Officers. Detailed analysis state by state of budgets with specific programs cut or reduced at the following link:

http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/FSS1012.PDF

Local Governments Cutting Jobs and Services, July 2010, National League of Cities, National Association of Counties, The United States Conference of Mayors. Survey of counties and cities regarding personnel cuts by service area at the following link:

http://www.naco.org/newsroom/latest/Documents/LJAreport.pdf

For specific information about how state budgets have affected long term services and support, there is a video presentation and power point slides of a presentation of preliminary results of a study entitled, "Weathering the Storm: The Impact of the Great Recession on Long Term Services and Supports" made at the HCBS conference in October 2010 by Susan Reinhard, Senior Vice President, Public Policy Institute, AARP. The study was a jointly authored by Susan Reinhard, Senior Vice President, AARP Public Policy Institute, Martha Roherty, Executive Director, National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities (NASUAD), and Kathy Gifford, Principal, Health Management Associates.  To see the video and slides, visit:

AARP

On December 21, 2010, Congress approved a continuing resolution budget bill that will fund the Federal government until March, 2011 but negatively impacts family caregivers. In July 2010, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a spending bill for the departments of Labor, Health, and Human Services.  The bill provided much-needed additional support for family caregivers as part of Vice President Biden's Caregiver Initiative that allocated an additional $104.5 million to support family caregivers.The additional funding was projected to provide an additional 1 million more hours of adult day-care,1.3 million more hours of personal care assistance, and 3 million more hours of respite care. In addition, $10 million was allocated to the Department of Labor to provide grants to states to help them implement paid leave programs that could support employees who are also caregivers. The full Senate never voted on this legislation, and the spending bill that was passed provided funding for Fiscal Year 2011 at Fiscal Year 2010 levels.  For more information, visit:

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The Family Caregiver Alliance and National Center on Caregiving will host the following sessions:

Wednesday April 27, 8:00 am - 9:30 am

National Technical Assistance Centers for Caregiving and Respite: Creating Learning Communities

Wednesday April 27, 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Caregivers Are Partners In Care: Shifting the Paradigm Towards Consumer and Family Centered Care

The above sessions are held at: The Hilton San Francisco Union Square Hotel

333 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA 94102

Phone: 415-771-1400

2011 Aging in America

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