The Schuylkill County Commissioners are joining with colleagues from across the state to tell legislators that their human services departments cannot tolerate another budget impasse.

The board passed a resolution Monday supporting a call to change the way the state approves funding for services like children and youth, and senior servicesThe recommendations came from the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, which saw many of its members forced to borrow money to fund basic human services that they are mandated to provide under state law."What we try to do is help the most vulnerable, and do it to the best of our ability. I think CCAP is looking at - if there is an impasse, at least some of the funding can be passed through," Commissioner Gary Hess said.Human services like MH/MR services are mandated by the state. Schuylkill managed to keep its staff employed over the past few months despite waiting on $7 million in funds that are handled by the state. Even federal grants were held up because they are doled out through Harrisburg, according to county administrator Mark Scarbinsky.But they had to postpone a number of payments to the vendors that serve those agencies - providers who actually meet with the patients."They need all the credit in the world - the ones providing the services directly to our clients. They suffered between August and January when some funding was restored," Scarbinsky said.However Scarbinsky said many counties around the commonwealth were not as lucky. The resolution asks legislators to create guarantees for human services funding during years where the budget is late."Going forward, the Legislature and the administration need to make sure budgets are in place in a timely fashion so they don't adversely affect the counties," Scarbinsky said.The commissioners' resolution also calls for the state to restore human services funding to its previous levels, after they were cut by 10 percent in 2012-13.The state has funded at the same level since that time, however human services departments across the state have been forced to add staff to handle additional responsibilities that have been added by the state."Naturally, expenses go up every year. With a restricted revenue stream, it puts us in tough spot. We need to deliver services, whether we're receiving revenue or not," Scarbinsky said.