When the state Children, Youth and Families Department eliminated an early childhood development grant in April, Las Cumbres Community Services, a nonprofit health care organization, lost a good chunk of its budget [News, May 26: “Trickle-Down Cuts”]. Now, Las Cumbres has suffered another blow. Director Rex Davidson says he learned at the Santa Fe County Board of County Commissioners’ June 29 meeting that the County was cutting all funding—$178,000—for Las Cumbres’ Community Infant Program, which last year provided mental and behavioral health services to more than 460 at-risk families in Santa Fe and Española.
“It was a huge blow,” Davidson tells SFR. “I was very surprised. We had some hope they would fund at least part of this…”
Steve Shepherd, the county’s Health and Human Services Division director, tells SFR that the county paid for Las Cumbres’ services through a memorandum of agreement with Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center.
“This year, we’re not doing an MOA with the hospital, and that’s where we were getting the revenue,” Shepherd says. “Essentially, it’s a budget cut.” Shepherd says he wasn’t aware of any other program that was cut in its entirety.