ROCKLAND — A proposal by Department of Human Services soon to be before the Maine Legislature could in effect wipe out all training opportunities for ASPIRE (Additional Support for People In Retraining and Education) participants in the rural areas of Maine, Rolanda Klapatch, local JOBS director for Coastal Economic Development Corporation who administers the program in the Mid-Coast area, said Monday.

“ASPIRE is a program designed to help people on AFDC (Aid to Families With Dependent Children) be trained in an occupation and obtain employment so they are no longer on public assistance, Klapatch said.

This cut, if passed as is, will rechannel remaining ASPIRE monies to the cities and leave rural participants who are currently in school or training without funding as of the end of February, Klapatch said.

“We all anticipated taking our fair share of cuts during this budget crisis, however, we never thought there would be such a disparity in the cuts between the rural and urban areas of the state,” Klapatch said.

Currently more than 300 people in the area are participating in some form of employment, training, or structured job search under this program.

“We have made suggestions to the Governor and some area legislators on more equitable methods of distributing the remaining funds throughout Maine. It doesn’t seem fair that people living in Rockland and Washington should be any less privileged than their counterparts in Portland, Auburn or Bangor.

“There are reasonable alternatives based on sound economic principles which could be followed and would give some relief to those caught in the middle of this recession,” Klapatch said.

Other Department of Human Services cuts to Maine Health and Childcare Programs will also have far reaching ramifications to area training programs, Klapatch said.

“This entire situation has the effect of throwing a big boulder into a small pond which in turn causes a tidal wave. Those who are in the pond only hope someone will throw out a life raft so they can survive until the storm is over,” Klapatch said.