California disability advocates wait and see what effects budget cuts will have on programs

From the Contra Costa Times. In the picture: At Therapeutic Living Center for the Blind in Reseda, Calif., computer instructor Daniel Callahan helps a client with an auditory program which helps to access the Internet. The Center is facing cuts with the new state budget.

VAN NUYS, Calif. - Passage of the state budget brought jitters to service providers for the developmentally disabled Feb. 19.

Many wondered how the $100 million in general funding cuts would affect day programs, in-house visits and services that help men and women live outside of institutions.

In Sacramento, nearly 200 people from groups that serve the developmentally disabled, along with beneficiaries of the programs and their families, gathered for one of three stakeholders meetings organized by the state's Department of Developmental Services.

And at a San Fernando Valley press conference earlier in the day, caregivers and those they serve both welcomed and mourned the passage of the budget, saying they were nervous about how cuts to fill the $41 billion deficit would impact them.

"Now that we have a budget, we have avoided a complete crisis in our system, but it's what we don't know that concerns us," said George Stevens, executive director the North Los Angeles County Regional Center in Van Nuys.

There are 21 regional centers statewide that contract with the Department of Developmental Services to provide care to those with mental or physical impairments from cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism and other conditions creating need for some assistance.

The goal of these centers, based on laws passed, is to provide services to men and women and their families that help them remain at home.

One result of the cuts might be that caregivers see lower wages or no raises.

The notion worries Liz Lyons, a board member, who relies on the local regional center to provide a service worker who visits her home.

"When I call my service worker, I want her to be there for me," said Lyons, 53. "I get help for reading and writing."

Randy Horton, 48, who uses a wheelchair and depends on an electronic keyboard to communicate, said the cuts and proposed caps on spending at his regional center could "severely impact not only the quality of my life and that of my wife, Cathy, but could endanger our health and safety as well," he said.

With cuts to Medi-Cal and other sources of funding also proposed, those with developmental disabilities could see challenges in receiving dental care, for example.

"It's a multiplication of harm," said Deborah Doctor, legislative advocate for the Disability Rights California group.

"It translates into backing away from the progress that California has made," Doctor said. "We feel that closing the remaining big institutions is a way to bring more money into the system, including day centers.

"Overall, while $100 million is better than the $334 million initially proposed (in cuts), there are questions that must be asked. There are unknowns in the federal stimulus package and what we are doing to plan for the future," she said.

The unknowns give Ford Neale, executive director for Therapeutic Living Centers for the Blind in Reseda, chills.

The 35-year-old center works with those with developmental disabilities who also are blind. More than 100 attend day classes, where they participate in art classes and music therapy and work in the garden. The center also operates several group homes and an after-school program.

Neale worries that any cuts could affect the 170 employees, who may lose some valuable health care coverage.

"My philosophy has been we have a social contract in this country, at least we thought we did, and there should be a willing obligation to care for those who, at no fault of their own, can't take (care) of themselves," he said.

"Our folks are born into this world unable to care for themselves. This sort of disability can happen to anybody. I would just hope that this kind of safety net would stay intact."