A Jefferson County program to provide nurse visits for low-income mothers and their babies is scheduled to be cut in half next month when federal funding dries up.
Commissioners for the cash-strapped county are asking the Port Townsend City Council to bail out the program.
But the city budget is in an equally precarious situation, leaving members of the council angered that the city is forced to find at least $25,000 to keep the Best Beginnings program, for moms and babies through age 2, from being halved.
County Health and Human Services Director Jean Baldwin said Tuesday that the federal money lost as of July 1 could be as much as $40,000.
The council will discuss the funding issue at its next meeting, Monday night at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall, 540 Water St.
‘Trickle-down’
“This was trickle-down responsibility,” Councilman Kees Kolff said Tuesday. “Ultimately it’s the responsibility of the federal government.”
“When the federal government shirked its responsibility, it went to the state, from there the county — and they sent it to us.”
Kolff, a retired pediatrician, vowed to do whatever it takes to find the funding.
