DSS moves back goal line on NEON replacement; state leader hopes for more funding

NORWALK, Conn. — The decision on a new anti-poverty agency for Norwalk has again been delayed – this time by two weeks.

The Connecticut Department of Social Services has moved its deadline for applications to be the new Norwalk area Community Action Program (or CAP agency) from Tuesday, April 21, to May 5.

Norwalk Housing Authority Executive Director Curtis Law and Community Action Agency of Western Connecticut (CAAWC) Executive Director Michelle James said they are intent on their attempts to become the new CAP (Community Action Program) agency. The Rev. Lindsay Curtis did not return a phone call.

DSS has budgeted approximately $869,008 for the contract period May 25 through Sept. 30, 2016, but some questioned the long-term viability of this plan, as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy proposed to eliminate Human Services Infrastructure (HSI) funding in the 2016-17 budget. The Request for Qualifications that DSS put out for the new Norwalk-area agency does not include any state HSI funding for 2015-16.

James and Law said there are confident they can run a CAP agency on the funding that has been outlined, helping as many people as possible.

Connecticut Association for Community Action (CAFCA) Executive Director Edith Pollock Karsky said a battle is being waged to keep the HSI funding from being eliminated.

“The state has supported anti-poverty efforts for 34 years,” Karsky said. “This is the first time there has ever been a recommendation to totally eliminate that funding. We are fighting very hard to get that put back into the budget.”

Greater Norwalk’s share of federal HSI funding is $87,279 a year for both fiscal years 2015 and 2016. Greater Norwalk’s share of state HSI funding for Fiscal Year 2015 is $255,546, but that money must be spent by June 10.

The greater share of the funding would come from a federal Community Block Services Grant, up to $438,904 in Federal Fiscal Year 2015 and Federal Fiscal Year 2016, pending availability of funding, according to the DSS RFQ. That would include onetime costs for start-up activities; training and technical assistance.

“I think you have to look at the number of individuals that you can serve effectively. We have always believed that quality trumps quantity,” Law said.

“I can make it work because we already have an existing structure,” James said. “We’re not new, so we don’t have to hire a new executive director, a new finance person, a new planner. Our administrative staff are all new people, so we do have that in place. This would be an extension. We obviously do have to hire additional people, but we would not have to hire the foundation of any organization because they already exist.”

CAAWC is already offering services in Norwalk. That includes Hispanic Human Development since January 2013 and case management since October 2013, James said.

The Community Service Block Grant system began under President Ronald Reagan, Karsky said. “As you can well imagine, with everything that is going on in Washington every year we have to make sure that continues to be supported,” Karsky said.

The state’s Appropriations Committee is rumored to be coming out with a budget Thursday, Karsky said.

“This week I am keeping my fingers crossed,” Karsky said. “I hear there’s some positive momentum to get (state HSI funding) restored.”