Opinion: It's Not About Cost; It's About Need

This letter is by Julie Cunningham, LICSW, who is the executive director of Families First Vermont. She sent it to Gov. Peter Shumlin, Sens. Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders, and Rep. Peter Welch. It pretty much could apply to any resident of any state who is concerned about cuts in services.
 
Dec. 17, 2012
Dear Gov. Shumlin,
Like you, I have been watching the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., and trying to comprehend how society has become completely unsafe for our children. I know that you have dedicated much time and energy to thinking about Vermont’s youth, and that you are invested in doing what you can to avoid a similar catastrophe in our state. Since our mental health and developmental services system have been undergoing major systems changes, I would like to share with you some of my thoughts about our shared concerns for our future.
As a community-based social worker for 25 years and for the past 13 years as director of a specialized service agency, I have worked closely with hundreds of families who are struggling with a child with a mental illness or a disability. I have noticed, over time, a steady decrease in services that are available for children — most notably in special education — but also in agency programming. Most families come into services at a crisis point. Prevention and outreach are non-existent. IEP and Coordinated Service Plan meetings are often uncomfortable, even excruciating, as service providers do not have enough funding to meet the needs presented. A child under the age of 19 who has a developmental disability can only receive a Medicaid (Developmental Services) waiver if there are repeated hospitalizations or the child is in DCF custody. We are a reactive system, and unfortunately our recent conversations about upcoming changes promise more of the same.

Pleading for Restoring Human Service Funds

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- After three years of deep budget cuts and declining revenue, Fairfax County is showing signs of fiscal equilibrium as property values and revenues begin a slow uphill climb.

But human service agencies in the county are still feeling pinched by three years of cumulative cuts to their budgets, shrinking state and federal dollars, and increased demand on services.

More than 30 agencies and individuals showed up to testify during last week’s public hearings on the proposed $6.7 billion fiscal year 2013 budget to deliver a unified message to the Board of Supervisors.

Penn. Social Services Cuts Draw Criticsm

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The administration of Gov. Tom Corbett is piling up a string of changes it ordered to social and human services before seeking outside input, according to advocates for the poor and disabled who have protested that the changes are both damaging and counterproductive.

At least four such orders were pulled back after an outcry. But advocates for those who use the services, such as people trying to re-enter the work force or live independently, say the record stirs deep concerns, especially given the broader authority that state lawmakers just gave the Corbett administration to cut programs without public review first.

R.I. Agencies Reeling from Budget Cuts

NARRAGANSETT, R.I. -- Social service agencies working with adults with developmental disabilities are worried that budget cuts and state reforms will radically change the way they help their clients.

“There are major issues with the budget,” said Donna Martin, executive director of the Community Provider Network of Rhode Island, an organization representing 19 private providers of services and supports to people with developmental disabilities. “The governor proposed a $9.5 million reduction for services for adults with behavioral and developmental disabilities. House Finance passed $24 million in cuts directly to individual services, and a $4.2 million cut in transportation that is embedded in the [state Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals] budget and earmarked for us. It is another unfunded mandate that heavily affects people who live at home with their families.”

California Budget Slashes Services

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Poor people will receive less medical care and welfare, disabled people will see fewer services, state parks will close and public university students will pay more in California under the budget that takes effect Friday.

Illinois Families Relocating for Services

Chrisa Hickey, a northwest suburban mom whose 16-year-old son hears voices, has bought property in Wisconsin with an eye to the future.
She wouldn't leave Barrington for career, retirement or the more languid pace of small-town living. Her relocation plans are strictly a way to keep Tim in his $85,000-a-year residential treatment center, currently funded by the state of Illinois.
"People ask, 'Why spend that kind of money on one kid?' And I tell them that he's 6-foot-2, 200 pounds and could pick up a desk when he was 4. If he gets angry in class, do you want him sitting next to your kid?"
Although no one tracks why people leave one state for another, anecdotal evidence suggests Hickey is one of several who are planning to leave Illinois — or has already left — because of diminishing human services here.

Hundreds Protest Proposed Cuts in Arizona

PHOENIX -- They've lost child care, housing, transportation, case management, therapies for their disabled children and counseling for themselves.
They aren't optimistic that they will change the minds of Gov. Jan Brewer and Republican lawmakers, who are poised Thursday to enact even deeper budget cuts to balance a combined $1.6 billion deficit this year and next.
But they found a way to get to the state Capitol on Wednesday. An estimated 500 of the state's most vulnerable citizens and their advocates, some in wheelchairs and strollers, rallied against reductions to health care and social services.