Seven Counties Services Cuts Staff

A three-million dollar state budget cut is forcing Louisville-based Seven Counties Services to cut staff positions. The agency provides mental health services for about 32-thousand people in Jefferson and six surrounding counties.Spokesperson Dean Johnson says they’ve cut their staff by ten and reduced services – but in the long-run it will cost the state more money."Many of the folks we serve, if they don’t get service will end up being homeless, will end up in emergency rooms, they’ll end up in jail. And all of those in the long run are more expensive alternatives than providing people the care and treatment they need to begin with," he said.Johnson says agency officials have worked with flat-line budgets through the last few years, but never with a cut this severe.