Thread: PA: Lebanon County cuts off Hispanic Outreach

County cuts off Hispanic Outreach
By JOHN LATIMER
Staff Writer
Lebanon Daily News
Lebanon Daily News

Lebanon County has cut funding to Hispanic Outreach, threatening the future of the county’s oldest Hispanic-assistance program.
For more than two decades, the Human Services office — which was recently renamed Lebanon County Community Action Partnership — has contracted with the Lebanon County Housing Authority to administrate Hispanic Outreach, a program that helps Latinos who do not speak English connect with various social agencies and services.

Citing cost savings and other measures to increase efficiency, human services Director Phyllis Holtry in April decided to end the county’s affiliation with the housing authority and hire her own staff to manage social programming from a new office building in the 500 block of Oak Street. At that time, a decision was also made to cut Hispanic Outreach’s annual $39,000 in funding.

To replace Hispanic Outreach referral services, Holtry has hired two bilingual speakers who will continue to provide Latinos information at the new office

The loss of county funding cut Hispanic Outreach’s $80,000 budget nearly in half, leaving just the $41,000 it receives from the United Way, said Mike Barrett, who directed the authority’s now defunct human-services department.

Hispanic Outreach will continue to operate from its offices at Webster Manor but in a reduced capacity, Barrett said. Friday was the last day for three part-time employees, leaving long-time employee Lucy Flecha to manage the program.

Flecha said she will continue to refer Spanish-speakers to the county for social services and coordinate Hispanic Outreach’s community programming, including its Latino Leadership and First Time Home Buyer classes.

The cutbacks will prevent her from doing case-management work that evolved as part of the agency’s service. That type of service will not be available at the county Community Action Partnership, she said.

“I want Latinos to understand that we are not providing case management not because we don’t want to, but because we can’t afford to,â€

We need to send these folks a supply of our New Haven posters.

Why is LaRaza funding these people????? I thought that is what they did!! This is just another example of the uncontended consequences that come from all this and part of the bottomless money pit.