Uncertainty over federal funding has led the North East Community Action Corporation (NECAC) to consolidate operations in four of its county offices and lay off staff, including the Warren County service coordinator. NECAC recently announced the moves since Congress has yet to finalize the federal budget, which is required to be approved by Oct. 1 of each year, and an order from the state to cut its Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) dollars in half. One of the employees laid off was Jodi Leach who was the Warren County service coordinator. NECAC Public Relations Officer Brent Engel said Leach’s duties will be assumed by Donna Cassmeyer, family self-sufficiency program coordinator for Warren, Lincoln and Montgomery counties. Some of the agency’s changes involved cutting hours at four of the NECAC county service centers in Lewis, Monroe, Shelby and Ralls counties. County service coordinators in Monroe County and Ralls County have been laid off as well. The operational hours at other county service centers in NECAC’s coverage area are not affected, but some staff has been laid off as well at the agency’s administration offices in Bowling Green. Engel emphasized that the Warren County office will remain open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on the weekdays. The center can be reached at 636-456-8191. “We wanted to keep the (Warren County) service center at full hours because it is so heavily used,” Engel said. “Most of the closures have been in rural areas. “We don’t want people to think we’re not here,” Engel added. “We’re still here to help the needy.” A nonprofit agency, NECAC covers a 12-county area in the northeast area of the state and provides social service, community health and public housing assistance for low income, elderly, youth and handicapped and disadvantaged individuals and families. The state directed NECAC and 18 other community action agencies in the state to cut funding in the CSBG program in half for the the 2012 fiscal year. The community action agencies contract with the Missouri Department of Social Services to administer the CSBG which supports the administrative costs for operations of the county service centers and staff members. The state receives the funds from the U.S. Department of HeaLth and Human Services. Last year, NECAC earned $767,604 in the CSBG program. It will be operating on half of that in fiscal year 2012. Congress is not expected to pass its budget until the end of December, Engel said. Last month, the NECAC board approved a $26.3 million budget, down $3.8 million from last year. “Our hands are tied with the funding crisis,” Engel said. “NECAC is very viable. We are financially sound.” NECAC President and Chief Executive Officer Don Patrick said in a press release that the decision to reduce hours and lay off staff was “not of NECAC’s making or something that was subject to the agency’s control.” “Should funding conditions improve, service center hours and staff positions may be restored,” he said. “However, more cuts may be needed when the federal budget is finally approved. Then we’ll actually know what we’re dealing with.”