Switch in grant recipient is a political move
The recent suspension of a $425,000 grant to the Hispanic Directors Association of New Jersey (HDANJ) and the subsequent denial of an appeal by the state Department of Human Services to reinstate the funds smacks of power politics emanating from the New Jersey Department of Human Services.

The Hispanic Directors Association, with 32 member agencies statewide, worked hard with very little funding for several years to help children and families with potential learning disabilities and autism. Recently, the state decided to suspend funding for that program and give the money to a politically connected organization operated out of the North Ward Center in Newark. Nine HDANJ agencies across the state were originally involved, now to be replaced by three.

The decision is political cronyism at its best and is intended to reward political boss Steve Adubato and the Latino Institute, which is operated from Adubato's home base. What does that mean for central New Jersey?

Prior to the redistribution of funds, two agencies, the Hispanic Affairs Resource Center with offices in Asbury Park, Red Bank and Freehold, and MECHA, based in Trenton, each assigned case workers to refer at-risk children for appropriate services.

This will now be replaced by one case worker operating out of Lakewood and by an annual convention to get the word out about special needs programs. Does the state really believe that a large convention is the best place to advise parents who may be concerned about learning disabilities faced by their children?

The reallocation of this grant to the Latino Institute, located at the North Ward Center in Newark, creates a deficit in services in communities where the Latino Institute has neither a presence nor knowledge of the needs of the population. HDANJ was able to deliver a superior level of service because in many cases those serving the communities lived in them. Other areas that will suffer as a result of this short-sighted decision are communities in Morris, Middlesex and Camden counties.

The Latino Institute claims that by hosting large and impersonal conventions, to which they have allocated over 60 percent of the grant, they will be able to educate thousands of parents on how to access services for their special needs children. This shows a lack of understanding, on their part, of the people that they purport to be serving and educating. Many of the lowincome residents the program was intended to serve will not travel to the Meadowlands or some other convention center to educate themselves on the services available for their children.

Education is not a one-day or a one-time event; educating the people in a community requires a long-term commitment as well as a level of dedication that is lacking in a venue such as a convention. Perhaps the state would next like to offer mental health outreach at regional traveling circuses?

What plan does the state have for the children and parents already involved in this program? What about the continuity of services? There appears to be no plan.

HDANJ and its member agencies are able to deliver successful outreach programs because the agencies that deliver these programs are in the community and know the members of the community and their special needs. Do the people of central New Jersey need to travel to Newark or Lakewood to get information about available programs?

In summary, the actions of the state Department of Human Services appear to be an effort to reward political kingmaker Steve Adubato and the North Ward Center, the political godfather of the Latino Institute.

We at the alliance also fear that the grant is a cynical attempt to divide the Latino community and create a mechanism for the Democratic Party to control a portion of this fast growing electorate by using the Adubato model of political organization.

Gov. Jon Corzine must take swift action to prevent this injustice from taking place. Resources to assist the community must be allocated on the basis of real need rather than political need.

Lazaro Cardenas

Deputy Director Monmouth County Chapter Latino Leadership Alliance

of New Jersey Freehold Borough