Reports commissioned by the Aspen Institute's Nonprofit Sector Research Fund find that nonprofits providing social services in particular would continue to struggle.

One report, the "Fiscal Crisis in the States: Its Impact on Nonprofit Organizations and the People They Serve," by Woods Bowman, an associate professor at DePaul University, finds that states are spending more on Medicaid at the expense of other programs. Among the programs being cut are youth and after-school projects and employment initiatives for low-income workers.

The study also shows that the nonprofit sector traditionally recovers from a recession at a much slower pace than the rest of the economy.

A second report, "A Divided Community: The Effects of State Fiscal Crises on Nonprofits Under Devolution," prepared by researchers at the State University of New York's Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, shows the likelihood of funding cuts for social services.

The research was based on data from federal agencies, state governments, and nonprofits.

"These findings are troublesome, both for the millions of Americans who will continue to pay the price for a stagnant economy and the policy makers who are charged with fixing the problem," said Alan J. Abramson, director of Aspen's Nonprofit Sector Research Fund. "We must find ways now to help people who need food, housing, and basic family support services -- amazingly, scarce commodities for too many people in this rich nation."