State House News Service
By Kyle Cheney
March 20, 2009
A steady drumbeat of concern over the elimination of services for the developmentally disabled, brought on in recent months by budget cuts in a deteriorating economy, culminated Friday in a fearful chorus.
Hundreds of group home residents, mentally disabled patients – some with little to no social function – blind and deaf residents and their supporters pleaded with state budget writers to resist the economic current and boost funding for support services in fiscal 2010, which begins July 1.
Those services – day programs, at-home care, job placement and training and other “safety net” services – keep vulnerable members of society in their communities and help families cope with the strain of caring for an ill loved one, they argued.
But those same services, they added, have faced midyear budget cuts that will lead to loss of Department of Mental Retardation support for as many as 11,000 people.
Those cuts would be furthered under Gov. Deval Patrick’s fiscal 2010 budget, which features across the board spending reductions in anticipation of a continuing economic decline.
“This year is a year that many families face a terrible choice,” said Gary B lumenthal, executive director of the Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers. “The very programs that the budget eliminates this year are the programs that have kept people out of institutions.”
Notification of service cutoffs will begin to be mailed on May 1, Blumenthal added.
Although the concerns were diverse, a common refrain included asking lawmakers to tap federal stimulus dollars to plug gaps in services. According to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, Massachusetts is in line for between $2.4 billion and $3.1 billion in enhanced Medicaid funding under the stimulus act.
The governor has twice authorized fiscal 2009 midyear cuts across all of state government to help balance the budget as revenue collections fell sharply. His fiscal 2010 budget proposes $68.2 million for the DDS, down from $73.9 million at the start of this year. Day services and family supports would be funded at a combined $40 million below their levels at the start of fiscal 2009. Services for families with autism would drop to $3.7 million from $6.3 million.
Those seeking to restore the cuts packed Gardner Auditorium for the last hearing of the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees on the governor’s fiscal 2010 budget proposal. Less than 10 members of the two committees, which between them have 49 members, attended Friday’s hearing.
Rep. Barbara L’Italien, who co-chaired the hearing with Sen. Harriette Chandler, said after the nearly six-hour hearing that the Legislature would be challenged to “balance out the obvious need” for service to vulnerable populations with an expected $4 billion budget gap in fiscal 2010. L’Italien said it was still unclear as to what portion of federal stimulus dollars could be applied to funds for the developmentally disabled, and other priorities that advocates sought to fund.
During the hearing, L’Italien heard testimony from her own cousin, Carol, who called for greater support for the developmentally disabled.
“I was very proud of her,” L’Italien said. “She’s been an activist for years.”
L’Italien and Chandler were the only committee members who remained when the hearing ended.
After testifying during the morning, many attendees flooded the building to lobby lawmakers and the executive branch officials. Several visited Gov. Patrick’s office and were greeted there by an aide, who suggested they could learn more about stimulus funding as www.mass.gov/recovery.
Lawmakers heard from residents with visual maladies whose services have taught them to navigate their communities as their eyesight deteriorated, from mentally ill residents with jobs and from parents of children who require at-home aides. Parents of disabled children, such as Diane Alston of Dorchester and Leslie Lockhart of Newton, said their children would have no place to go if proposed cuts go through.
Services for the disabled, are among of the largest, broadest swaths of the state budget, often find themselves on the chopping block during economic downturns.
Advocates for the elderly also urged lawmakers to fund in-home care, which they say saves the state money by keeping older residents out of nursing homes.
Mass Home Care executive director Al Norman, in submitted testimony, said 1,000 elderly residents were on a waiting list for at-home services, as of Feb. 1.