So far, Butler County’s human services department and the agencies it contracts with to provide services to nearly 20,000 people have not been affected by the state budget impasse.

“Not yet, but they will be,” said Joyce Ainsworth, director of county human services.

In Harrisburg, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled Legislature have not been able to come up with a state budget that is agreeable to both parties. July 1 was the deadline to have a budget passed and signed.

Ainsworth said the department has been in contact with the more than 100 agencies it contracts with, telling them to set up lines of credit and prepare for the use of their reserves in case the state money does not come in for a while. Ainsworth said some county money can be used to help pay contractors who are in serious need.

“We’re going to be OK for another month before we start to have anyone in dire straits,” Ainsworth said.

Some services, such as Children and Youth Services, are essential and cannot be halted.

“We have to continue to provide services to those kids and families,” Ainsworth said.

If things get really bad, she said that some services that are not considered essential could be delayed. She declined to be specific about which services those might be.

Ainsworth said the contracts with these providers note that their payment is contingent on state funding availability. She said if a provider wants to halt services due to nonpayment, they have to give 60 days’ notice. She also said they would have an ethical obligation to make arrangements for their clients.

However, she said most of the agencies do have reserves and lines of credit.

“We’ve been down this road before,” Ainsworth said.

She said she is trying to be optimistic that the budget will be handled in due time.

“I think they’re going to work it out,” Ainsworth said.

One of the department’s contractors is the Victim Outreach Intervention Center.

Heidi Artman, director of VOICe, said she has not seen any effect yet, but said she expects it in August. She said VOICe, which advocates for abused women, has been planning for this.

“We are going to have to utilize a line of credit that we have never touched — ever,” Artman said.

She said VOICe provides critical services that cannot be suspended, so she is planning to have no layoffs and no disruption of services.

Artman said she has heard that the impasse might last long enough that no state money will come in until October or November.

“I would like to be cautiously optimistic (that it comes sooner),” Artman said.

Mike Robb, executive director of the Center for Community Resources and the Alliance for Nonprofit Resources — two of the agencies that contract with county human services — said in a previous interview that the two nonprofits took steps months ago to set up a line of credit in case a budget was not passed on time.

He said services will not change and staffing will not be affected.