Statement from Gian-Carl Casa, President & CEO of CT Community Nonprofit Alliance, on Governor Lamont’s comments on funding for Connecticut’s community nonprofits:
“Connecticut is finally seeing consecutive years of surplus dollars and has a record-size savings account. The CT Community Nonprofit Alliance (The Alliance) urges the Governor, as he conducts his budget deliberations, to restore funding for programs the people of Connecticut need and depend on.
“Members of The Alliance appreciated the Governor’s appearance at our annual conference this week, but his suggestion that increasing philanthropic support is the answer to funding shortfalls is, by definition, only a fraction of what needs to be done.
“We applaud the Governor’s consideration of innovative solutions. But charitable giving does not have the reach or the capacity to substitute for state funding of substance abuse and mental health treatment, support and residential services for people with developmental disabilities, homeless shelters, re-entry programs and other vital human service programs.
“Community nonprofits have a long history of being underfunded by the state, a situation further exacerbated when the national recession created massive deficits a decade ago. Over the past 10 years, programs across the state saw funding reductions and mid-year rescissions, closing some and reducing access to others.
“Community nonprofits contract with the state to provide services to a half-million Connecticut residents each year and only the state has the ability to properly fund them.”