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A Silver Spring computer center that helps residents with mental disabilities learn to access e-mail, apply for jobs and create résumés lost county funding this year, leaving what center staff call a gap in a necessary service to county residents.

The Computer Learning and Resource Center, a nonprofit that usually receives funding from both the state and the county, lost nearly a quarter of its funding this year as a result of slashed budgets that favored saving basic-needs services over job training.

But staff members from the center said job training is an essential part of getting these residents, who have a history of such mental illnesses as manic depression, schizophrenia and anxiety, back on their feet. The center hosts courses on using Microsoft Word, e-mail and job posting websites to help its clients find employment. The center also works to place its clients with employers, according to Executive Director Diane McManigal.

"It's a full service that I would hate to see go," she said, peeking into one of the classrooms. "Look at it in there. It's crowded. It's a necessary service."

Last fiscal year, the nonprofit received roughly $156,000 from the state and $47,000 from the county for its leased space, staff and full-time teacher/employment specialist, McManigal said. Students pay about $10 to take a course at the center, she said.

But with the funding cuts, the nonprofit's board members said they would have to eliminate the position of the center's only teacher, who also helps with job placement. They will look for volunteers to teach classes but will likely have to shut down operations when funding runs out, they said.

"After the contract from the state runs out, we would have to close up shop," said Dan Polansky, the board president.

County officials said they sympathize with the center, but they had to make tough budget decisions this year. The priority was placed on "safety-net services," such as food and rental assistance programs, medical clinics and shelters, according to Mary Anderson, spokeswoman for the county's Department of Health and Human Services.

"I think when you look at direct safety net services, and you look at job training, you have to make a choice in a budget situation like this," she said.

McManigal said she was upset that her nonprofit's funding was slashed with just a few month's notice, especially after the agency had received funding for nearly 20 years. Had she known cuts were coming, she would have applied to receive grants, she said.

McManigal also pointed out that Community Vision, a nonprofit that offers computer training and job placement to the homeless, was saved from severe budget cuts at the last minute. Barbara Garlock, interim executive director for Community Vision, said while they have a computer lab and offer some courses, that part of their nonprofit is not funded by the county, but rather through donated equipment and volunteers.

Councilwoman Nancy Navarro (D-Dist. 4) said the council had no choice but to prioritize direct services and safety-net funding for this fiscal year. Already looking to fiscal 2012, the council is seeing deficits, she said, but she hopes they can revisit funding for the center.

"As somebody who used to run a nonprofit, I know how difficult it is, and how challenging it is, to keep afloat," she said. "... I'm hoping that when things get better, we'll hopefully be able to restore some of that funding."

The center's funding was "annualized," meaning the center's funding was in the county's base budget, and as long as there was funding available, it would be safe. With this fiscal year's crisis, there simply wasn't money to be had, according to Raymond Crowel, the chief of county Behavioral Health and Crisis Services.

"It's been a rough and challenging year," he said. "There are other contractors and programs who had their entire funding cut. They lost all funding for the entire year. And that's unfortunate, but that's the fiscal year we're in."

Crowel said he is hoping to work with McManigal and other center officials to set up the center with a state program that would pay a certain fee for each person receiving training or placement service.

"The state said that based on the descriptions of the program that CLARC has provided, they are definitely eligible for these fees for service," he said. Crowel said he is trying to schedule a meeting with the center to go over their budget, and said it's conceivable the center could be billing the state for service within the next nine months.