NY disability center cuts jobs for day care, pre-school

From the Times Union:

ALBANY, N.Y. — The Center for Disability Services, an Albany nonprofit and a major Capital Region employer, is cutting its day care and pre-school programs and eliminating 51 jobs.

On June 19, the center will close its Hudson Early Childhood Services and Cobleskill Early Childhood Services sites, along with day care facilities in Glenville and Albany.
Those programs serve about 200 disabled and nondisabled children.

The cuts are "in response to the continuing economic uncertainty and mounting fiscal challenges facing the center," Alan Krafchin, the organization's president and chief executive, said in a letter to employees.

"The daycare and pre-school programs have run a deficit for many years," Krafchin wrote. "Unfortunately, the deficits we have supported in the past are simply now too great to overcome."

The center is based in Albany and has an annual budget of more than $100 million. Much of that money comes from government sources, supplemented by private donations and a commercial mailing business the center runs.

Anne Costigan, a spokeswoman for the center, on Tuesday said there's concern that all three funding sources could decline, given the economic slowdown.

The announced cutbacks, she said, are a pre-emptive strike of sorts — a move to protect core programs by eliminating expenses.

"It's something that many businesses and not-for-profits are doing right now: evaluating their services," said Costigan, adding that cutting the daycare programs "has been something that has been discussed for quite some time."

Costigan stressed that the cut programs provide services that are available from other sources. The center, she said, is keeping open early childhood programs that serve children with multiple disabilities.

The Fulton Montgomery Clover Patch services also will stay open.

Krafchin, in his letter, said: "As you can imagine, this was a very difficult decision to make. It was nonetheless necessary in order to keep our core services intact."

The Center for Disability Services has 2,400 employees and calls itself the seventh-largest private employer in the Capital Region. It provides services to 15,000 people at 85 locations in nine upstate counties.

It is, therefore, far larger than most Capital Region non-profits. But its financial concerns mirror those faced by most charitable organizations, both locally and nationally, in a slowing economy. Many groups have said they are reviewing costs and considering service reductions.

The announced cuts at the Center for Disability Services come just before it prepares for its annual money-raising telethon, which is scheduled for noon to 7 p.m. Sunday and will be broadcast on WXXA, Ch. 23.

Krafchin and Costigan both said that they hope that many of the 51 employees affected by the cuts can find jobs elsewhere at the center.