The funding crisis: implications for the survival of human service institutions

At a time when human service providers should be priming their technologies to meet the emerging needs of a new age, they appear to be fighting for their very survival. New governmental priorities have reduced the Welfare State to a new level of pauperism, where both public and private services scurry for scarce resources. In the midst of these changes, serious questions emerge regarding who is ultimately responsible. That is, for maintaining acceptable standards of human dignity and rights despite government preoccupation with budget-balancing. Traditional advocates in the form of civil rights community organizations and organized labor groups do not appear to be available for the task. And recent changes in conventional primary group systems such as the family and the neighborhood complicate the matter of identifying appropriate leaders for mobilizing any form of "grass roots" movement. Despite what appears to be a bleak future for the human services, there is little question about their survival. The issue is, in what form and at what level of quality will they survive. If current trends continue, they will most certainly be incapable of meeting even basic human needs in the future. Funding in its current form may be a moot issue. Ultimately, it may be those who are dependent upon service systems who will determine their own survival.