KIRKSVILLE, MO -- Missouri's community health centers are struggling to determine how they will continue to serve without traditional funding from state grants.
A Missouri House committee cut nearly $60 million from next year's state budget for social service programs, which includes $9 million in grants for community health centers. Those centers are considered a vital safety net for the state's working poor and uninsured, providing them with basic health services they otherwise may have to go without.
The cuts come early in the budget process in the House, and they still have to go to the Senate. House budget leaders made the cuts because they worry that revenues may fall short of projections in the coming year.
The centers will still receive federal funding but the cuts come at a time when unemployment is high, meaning more people than ever need their services.
Northeast Missouri Outreach Coordinator Mandy Herleth said that the primary use of the funds is for dental and medical visits.
“With the legislative funds that the Northeast Missouri Council gets, that’ll be about a $370,000 funding cut for us” said Herleth. “We use these funds to expand our services for our target audience of the uninsured and low income families.”
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