In an effort to help connect county programs to the people who need them, Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino announced a new partnership Wednesday with the area's faith-based organizations.
Rosa Boone, the county's deputy social services commissioner, will now also serve as a liaison for the county's faith-based organizations. She will work with leaders from various religious groups to help "cut through government red tape and share information", Astorino said.
"The bond that I have with these members of the clergy is that we are all really in the helping business, and often we are trying to help the same people," Astorino said.
The county executive made the announcement with representatives from several religious groups in attendance. Boone will serve as a contact person for these groups, and others, to help ensure that their organizations and congregants receive the help and assistance already available to them.
"The power of that combination means we can do more for others, and that's why we are all here," Astorino said.
Boone has served as deputy social services commissioner since 2011. She will now help religious groups navigate through at least 36 different departments when they are in need of information or assistance. She will continue to serve in her previous role, so the new program won't cost any additional money.
"As someone who has worked closely with community organizations for almost two decades, I know the great work done by religious groups," Boone said. "Budgets are always tight. Sharing ideas, expertise and resources is a way we can leverage programs and services to do more for those who need our help."
A new section of the county's website will also be devoted to faith-based groups, offering them the opportunity to connect with the county and one another. Astorino said he is hopeful the new partnership will make it easier for people to access the programs already available to them.
"(Religious groups) can identify people in the pews that need help," he said. "They know their congregants best."
Why is the County Executive reaching out to help make faith-based organizations efforts more streamlined? Was there disparity between how faith-based and non-faith-based organizations were being helped? Was there a big difference in the amount of funding these types of organizations received? Don't get me wrong. The easier it is to help people in need, the better. But if some type of favoritism is being applied based on religious beliefs, there's a problem. It would be nice to have more perspective on this, as it seems, on face value, a bit off.
It would be helpful if this article went a little farther than it does. It's not giving a complete picture. Also, if Astorino held a press conference saying that he was making changes to the way the county allocated funds for organizations that help those in need in order for it to be easier, there wouldn't be an issue. The issue is that it appears he's doing it for one specific group, and for the members of these groups. If this is about a specific program that works specifically with faith-based organizations, then that's a different story. My point being, it's not made clear by the article.
Know the facts. This effort helps people. Now liberals are deciding what sort of community care counts as acceptable or not. Do you know how foolish that sounds? Btw, explain that to the destitute who need such critical attention. I wanna hear their reaction. The liberals are just rummaging for an issue.
Now, if Astorino is in fact using this announcement of a special liaison as a smokescreen to distract from cuts in programs that help the needy, as is suggested by county legislators in the above linked article, the focus of this discussion should shift.
In the title of this article it reads "County Executive Robert Astorino said he hopes the new faith-based community partnership will help guide county resources to those that need them." and the retort in the linked article (in summary) claims this is a "smokescreen" **because** (facts follow) Astorino has actually made many *cuts* to social programs, including those run out of churches, synagogues and other houses of worship, and attempted to skew budget numbers to make a surplus appear as a deficit to justify cuts. If you have verifiable facts to counter with, by all means present them. Partisan rhetoric and generalizations just aren't very meaningful.
You say now he is working on ways to restore those cuts. If you can cite some examples of budget money he is *re*-making available, or if you have evidence that all or parts of the 'Jenkins' post is inaccurate, please let us know. But nothing in this article states he is actually restoring any funds to those in need.