New State Budget Cuts Will Lead to Reduced HIV/AIDS Services

August 21, 2008

For immediate release

Hawthorne , NY – Today AIDS-Related Community Services decried the 6% budget cut announced yesterday by Governor David Paterson. “The Governor and the legislature have implemented the most devastating cuts to the core funding for HIV/AIDS services in the history of this state,” said Jeff Kraus, ARCS' Executive Director. “I am not exaggerating when I say that yesterday's budget agreement was truly the worst day in the history of the epidemic regarding funding for those living with HIV and AIDS in NYS as well as for the general community across the state who may be seeking prevention education.”

The new cuts bring this year's total budget cuts to the core funding for HIV/AIDS services to more than 8%. Prior to 2008, the core funding level for HIV/AIDS services has remained level for over a decade. The legislature's failure to increase core funding, by itself, resulted in service cutbacks over the years due to the need for organizations like ARCS to keep pace with inflationary pressures. The unprecedented cuts to core funding for community service providers (CSPs) offering HIV/AIDS services across the state are a first in the history of New York 's HIV epidemic. CSPs serve every county in NYS and are slated to lose over $1 million from their long-frozen allocation.

“NYS has built the best service system for people with AIDS in the nation,” Kraus said. “This safety net is being dismantled in a haphazard way at a time when there are more people living with AIDS and HIV than ever in history.” New York has 17% of all HIV/AIDS cases in the US . The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently indicated that they have been underestimating the number of new HIV cases, bringing the national estimate of new HIV cases per year to over 50,000.

As for the impact of the budget cuts on the Hudson Valley 's HIV/AIDS services, Kraus said, “Our service programs are serving more people than ever. We are stretched to the limit. These cuts have left us teetering on the edge and they have gone a long way in undoing the comprehensive service networks that have been built over two decades in NYS.” In the Hudson Valley, these cuts will mean a reduction of community education programs reaching schools and other settings with prevention information, cutbacks in nutritional and pantry programs (while ARCS has seen a 22% increase in food pantry usage), fewer training programs for service professionals, and decreases in services for women of color in ARCS' Mt. Vernon HIV prevention program. Similar cutbacks will take place across the state as organizations face the reality of these decreases.

“Due to these cuts more people will go hungry, more people will lack the knowledge to protect themselves from HIV and AIDS, and more people will become infected. In the end, that will cost our communities far more money than these budget cuts, and will cost people their lives.”

AIDS-Related Community Services (ARCS) is the largest organization solely dedicated to providing HIV/AIDS services, prevention education, and outreach to the Hudson Valley region. Founded in 1983, ARCS touches the lives of over 25,000 people annually through offices in Dutchess, Orange , Putnam, Rockland , Sullivan , Ulster and Westchester counties. Visit www.arcs.org for complete information on ARCS' programs and services.

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Note: For more information or for additional quotes, please contact J. Dewey at (914) 785-8326 or by email at jdewey@arcs.org .

Date Posted: August 22, 2008