BUDGET CUTS ARE PROTESTED
Drop expected in state money for disabled.
Drop expected in state money for disabled
by Bill Gates
As state agencies all over Maryland brace for inevi-table budget cuts, one group used Dundalk as a launching point for its campaign to avoid the knife.
The Developmental Disabilities Coalition (DDC) held a rally at the Arc of Baltimore's Dundalk Day Center on Oct. 8, calling on the state's Board of Public Works to spare "Maryland's most vulnerable citizens."
"We cannot balance the state budget on the backs of people with developmental disabilities," said Ken Capone, public policy coordinator for People on the Go, a statewide self-advocacy group that believes all people with challenges should be included in school, work and independent living.
The Maryland Board of Public Works was to meet on Oct. 15 to consider where to cut $250 million from state services and programs. The DDC wants no cuts in the Developmental Disabilties Administration, a program within the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene that provides funding and services to individuals with developmental disabilties.
It is a program described as "historically underfunded" in a statement released by the DDC.
"The number of people on the DDA Community Services waiting list keeps climbing," Capone said. "It's a very scary situation for people with developmental disabilties. I just got approved for in-home services, and I don't want to lose my services and have to depend on my family for everything I need."
There are 18,024 people on the waiting list, with 94 percent of them needing services immediately, according to statistics re-leased by the DDC.
"And the number of people on the waiting list keeps growing," said Carol Fried of Kensington, whose 22-year-old son, David, has a rare genetic disorder. "Providers have been chronically underfunded and can't afford any more cuts.
"Maryland has to think about providing an ongoing funding stream for its most vulnerable citizens."
Christine Hansen, a spokesperson for Gov. Martin O'Malley, said budget cuts are necessary, but it was too early to discuss specifics. No final decision has been made [on where cuts will be made]," Hansen said last week. "These are tough economic times. The national economy is on a downturn, and it's having an impact on everyone. It's going to hurt a lot of people."
Priority on which budgets not to cut will be given to agencies connected to public education and public safety, Hansen said.
"But all areas are going to have to be looked at," she said. "Budget cuts will hit everyone and impact all organizations."
The cuts will be determined by O'Malley, Comptroller Peter Franchot and Treasurer Nancy Kopp.
The DDC planned a rally in Annapolis on Wednesday, the day the Board of Public Works was scheduled to meet.
Hansen pointed out the state could gain $650 million a year from slot machines, if the slots referendum passes on Nov. 4.
"That money will help fund things that are a priority for the state," Hansen said.
The Arc of Baltimore was organized in 1950 and offers programs and services to help people with developmental disabilities actively participate in all aspects of community life.
The Dundalk Center is one of seven Arc facilities in the Baltimore metro area. They offer vocational training, medical care, landscape, janitorial and other employment services, residential care, family support and recreation activities for about 3,000 people in Baltimore city and county.
The Dundalk Day Center, in the 1400 block of North Point Road, would also be hurt by a budget cut, workers said.
Bonnie Bryant, an Essex resident who has been the kitchen supervisor at the Dundalk Center since 1987, said the damage would go beyond just a cut in salaries.
"We train people here to go out and work elsewhere," Bryant said. "This will hurt the ability of the disabled to work, learn and get training for other jobs in order to become self-sufficient."
Elizabeth Friend, the janitorial supervisor at the Dundalk Center, said her department has been hurt "big time."
"We don't have the money to train more individuals, and they don't get the training they need to earn money and take care of themselves," Friend said. "There are 13 people in my crew, and we used to have 18. This is a very good program, which prepares them for jobs in the outside world."
During the rally at the Dundalk Day Center, individuals with disabilties and their advocates mailed, faxed and e-mailed letters to the Board of Public Works members urging them to vote against cuts in the DDA's funding.
"We're the ones who always seem to get our budget cut," said Sandy Shifflett, the Dundalk Day Center manager who has been with Arc for 26 years. "I've been through times when we've had to look for toilet paper, and I don't want these people to go through that again.
"We need to be able to grow, we need to be able to provide programs and to keep staffers. In order to do that, we need funding. We don't expect to be greatly paid, but you don't expect your pay to never grow, when the cost of everything else is growing.