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MIDDLE TOWNSHIP — Cuts to state funding could decimate Volunteers of America programs in New Jersey, including some in Atlantic and Cape May counties.
A state budget proposal is set to cut millions of dollars that help fund the organization’s work, including a planned $7.4 million cut to funding for the Safe Return program, part of a $243 million reduction in the Department of Community Affairs’ $1.86 billion budget, according to a DCA budget analysis released in April.
That’s in addition to a $3.8 million reduction in state funding for the Navigator program through the state Department of Human Services.
Funding from both sources helped VOA provide its Impact program, which included working with local law enforcement to connect individuals with available social services, according to Amanda Leese, senior vice president of VOA Delaware Valley.
Leese said she understands this is a tough budget year but believes the work of her organization is worth supporting, and in the long term makes economic sense for New Jersey.
“If the money does not get restored, it could have a devastating impact,” she said in an interview Friday.
The program works with 26 police departments in nine counties, including in Middle and Egg Harbor townships.
The Impact program began in Camden County in 2019, Leese said. It looks different from one department to the next, but the outline is the same. Law enforcement agencies provide VOA staff with space, and officers can turn to those staff members to help people in the community seeking support for a variety of problems. Those can include substance abuse issues, food assistance, help finding housing and accessing veterans services.

Cape May County still seeks answers for homeless
Cape May County officials say they are working to address a persistent problem with homelessness. But some are still sleeping in the cold. A proposal for next steps could be on the way.
“It’s just an additional resource for people who are in need,” said Egg Harbor Township police Chief Frederick Spano.
Officers encounter people in a variety of circumstances, he said. They entered law enforcement to help people, he said, but there are times when there is little a cop can do.
“That’s why having VOA is so important,” Spano said.
People in crisis have fewer resources, he said, and officers will be tied up longer on matters better handled by someone trained to offer that kind of help.
“It impacts the spirt of the officers. We’re all about service to others. If we can’t give someone hope, if we have nowhere to direct them, it can be very disheartening,” he said.
Some in Middle Township have already seen an impact.
Two staff members with VOA, which despite “volunteers” in the name are paid staff, have been stationed at the Rio Grande police substation for more than a year. The area is a major retail hub for the county, but also has a concentration of people who lack stable housing and have other social problems.
With budget cuts and layoffs looming, however, the two staff members resigned for other jobs. Because funding was uncertain, Leese said, VOA Delaware Valley has not sought to fill those slots.
Cape officials roll up sleeves to tackle homelessness, housing
The Cape May County Board of Commissioners plans to take a fresh run at some of the county’s most intractable problems, such as homelessness and a persistent lack of affordable housing.
Denise South, president of the organization Cape Hope, said the impact is already visible. She raised the issue at a recent meeting of the Middle Township Committee.
“I’m not sure if something’s changed, because I see an uptick in the homeless population,” she told the elected officials. People are congregating in an area, and she sometimes sees people sleeping in the complex near her office in Rio Grande.
Mayor Christopher Leusner cited the state cuts.
“We made it known that’s something we didn’t want to see happen,” he said.
Federal cuts to social services have raised significant concerns, with new restrictions looming for food aid, Medicaid and other programs under a Republican president and a Republican majority in both houses of Congress.
While Leusner made no mention of political parties, the all-Republican Middle Township Committee looked closer to home, to the Democratically dominated state government.
“It’s shocking that the state would even consider cutting a program like that, with all of the mandates that come down from Trenton,” Leusner said, citing affordable housing requirements.
The program was making a difference, both Leusner and police Chief Tracey Super said at the meeting.
The tents are better hidden, but the homeless remain in Middle Township
It is difficult to get reliable information on how many people are without homes in Cape May County, but local officials and advocates for the homeless agree that the issue is at its most visible in the Rio Grande section of Middle Township.
“The progress that was being made has kind of gone backwards now,” South said.
VOA staff still respond to Middle Township, Super said, but they are based in Atlantic County, meaning slower response times and fewer hours in Rio Grande.
Housing and social service support has been a major issue for the township for years. That’s included cracking down on encampments in the woods on private and public property, as well as working to steer people toward social services.
There are still people living in tents in the area, Super said, but they have moved to more remote sections of the woods and sought to keep a lower profile.
VOA works on several programs, including the Navigator program that helps connect people to social services, and a human trafficking program that includes outreach in Atlantic City and statewide.
The Impact program uses funds through both the DCA and the Department of Human Services, Leese said.
“The Impact program meets individuals where they are — in the community, in their homes, on the street, at service events, etc. — to ensure prompt service delivery in a comfortable setting,” reads an explanation on the VOA website. “As a key part of the program, Impact specialists work side-by-side with law enforcement partners in satellite offices embedded within police departments — delivering critical social services to those most in need, and at times, diverting from criminal justice system involvement.”
While the Impact program works with specific departments, Spano said, the effect goes beyond one community. He said the planned budget cuts do not align with the messages from Trenton in recent years.
For many South Jersey veterans, solutions to their physical and mental health needs exist outside the VA
Boot camp, deployment, assignments and basic life on a military base are all about being there for other people, whether it’s members of their unit or those needing help. There are things unit members learn about one another, and stories they may not have expected to share, Shay said. But when they leave the military and go home, the resources veterans had on the base just aren’t there. Some must deal with sadness, isolation, a lost sense of purpose.
“To me, not funding VOA is contrary to the whole spirit of how Trenton has been working,” Spano said. The program was not the only way for his officers to help, he said, but it was a powerful tool in some circumstances.
“The more tools that law enforcement has, the better it is for everybody,” he said.