Holes in safety net for state's disabled
(Letter to the Editor) While Maryland is the wealthiest state in the nation, it ranks near the bottom in spending for developmental disability services. In response to the chronic underfunding of the DDA, people with disabilities and their families and advocates are engaging in a renewed effort...
Thanks for publishing Dan Rodricks' column about Howard Fry, which revealed some of the underlying failures of the state's safety net for those in need ("Safety net, unraveling," Sept. 28).
In explaining some of those failures, the article touched upon the lack of funding to provide the kinds of support Mr. Fry would need to live safely in a more independent, community-based setting.
Sadly, the state's Developmental Disabilities Administration has a waiting list of more than 16,000 people with needs like Mr. Fry's who have been left waiting for services because of a lack of funding.
While Maryland is the wealthiest state in the nation, it ranks near the bottom in spending for developmental disability services. (Maryland ranks 44th in the percentage of statewide personal income devoted to funding services for the disabled, according to the "State of the States in Developmental Disabilities 2005" report from the University of Colorado's Coleman Institute.)
In response to the chronic underfunding of the DDA, people with disabilities and their families and advocates are engaging in a renewed effort to call attention to the need to fund the services needed to get people off the waiting list. Mr. Rodricks' column helped shed light on the lives of those who tend to remain in the shadows of the public's vision.
But so much more needs to be done to move our legislature and our governor to action.
Michelle Hart
Cockeysville
The writer is co-director of policy initiatives for the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council