If you're homeless or having trouble paying the rent and in jeopardy of being evicted, here's some more bad news: The hard times are about to get harder.

A program that helps struggling low-income families in Lancaster County make their rent and avoid being thrown out on the streets suffered a 10-percent cut in state funding.

The Homeless Assistance Program here will be able to help 100 fewer families because its allocation was only $460,841, a decline of $52,043 for the fiscal year that began July 1.

"We were able to assist 704 families with their rent last year. We'll probably — and it's hard to say at this point — be able to help about 600 families this year with these funds," said Anne Floyd, the director of outreach and case management at the Community Action Program of Lancaster County.

The state spent $512,884 on the county's program last year.

"No one likes to have a decline, but the program could have been hit harder," Floyd said. "Just because the program has been decreased doesn't mean the need has decreased, though."

The program helps low-income families struggling to pay their rent avoid eviction. It also helps the homeless find housing and pay their first month's rent.

Families of four whose gross income is below $44,100 are eligible for assistance once every 24 months under the program.

Floyd talked about the funding cut at a meeting of the Lancaster County commissioners Wednesday morning. The board designated the Community Action Program as the agency to handle the Homeless Assistance Program here under the amended state allocation.

The program is funded by the state Department of Public Welfare. Statewide, spending on the Homeless Assistance Program this year fell to $23 million, down 14 percent from $26.6 million last year.

The state budget was signed in mid-October, but local officials who administer the Home Assistance Program learned only in recent weeks how severely their budget had been cut.

Some of the 100 local families who won't be able to get help through the Homeless Assistance Program might be eligible for other programs.

Lancaster County and Lancaster city received a combined $2.1 million in homelessness assistance grants from the $787 billion federal recovery act passed in February.

The money is to be used to aid families who are homeless or facing eviction due to joblessness, reduced hours or other reasons tied to the economic downturn.

Families of four whose gross income is below $33,700 and are at risk of being evicted are eligible for up to $2,500 in assistance under the federal Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing program.

The program is administered here by the Lancaster County Housing and Redevelopment Authorities.

"The idea is to save people before they become homeless," said Aimee Tyson, community development director for the authorities. "There is an option for people who normally rely on the Homeless Assistance Program. This program may be able to help some of those folks."

tmurse@lnpnews.com