Remember human services, PHOCUSED tells lawmakers

Wearing matching, neon yellow t-shirts, about 15 nonprofit leaders showed up for the Legislature’s July 15 special session to remind lawmakers that they and their clients are hurting. They sat in on veto override discussions and met in the Capitol's rotunda to share concerns about human service program cuts, which disproportionately hurt the poor.

"What's not been, I think, fully discussed is the human cost," Alex Santiago, executive director of PHOCUSED, told reporters. PHOCUSED, which stands for Protecting Hawaii's Ohana, Children, Under Served, Elderly and Disabled, is a consortium of health and human service nonprofits that say lawmakers and the governor need to do more to protect society's neediest.

"As this economic crisis continues to worsen, what we're finding is the numbers of those who are vulnerable are growing ... and people are not able to access the care that they need" because of cuts to programs and big layoffs at nonprofits, Santiago said.

The gathering came on the heels of news that Healthy Start, a state child abuse prevention program that drew national recognition, is being cut because of fiscal woes, spurring dozens of layoffs at nonprofits that provide Healthy Start services. The program helps an estimated 4,000 families, offering home visits, parenting lessons and other services to prevent child abuse.