Please come to the budget hearings tomorrow, Wednesday, April 6, either at 1:30 or at 7:00 p.m. We need to show support for those testifying to restore funds to the county budget for adults with developmental disabilities. The current proposed budget reduces county match funds by over 7% when you factor in new individuals entering the system this year. We cannot afford any more cuts to provider budgets in Montgomery County.
Individuals supported by CSS plan to attend in the afternoon and others in the evening. I will have three minutes in the afternoon to testify, as will several other providers and parent representatives. Betty Bahadori will have three minutes around 8:00 p.m. Others may be signed up for other times.
The hearing will be at 100 Maryland Avenue, in the county council hearing room on the third floor. You can come in and out during the time blocks, so please plan to come and stay for any amount of time you can to show your support. The council knows these services are important, and I believe, if they feel our strength of purpose and number, at least some of these funds will be restored. Also, please call or e-mail council members, asking that all the DD services funds be restored including funds for new individuals.
Please remember that everyone is affected by these cuts. The county match enables CSS and other providers to pay above the 8.97 rate for staff wages included in state funds. It enables us to provide emergency back up, to pay for vans and specialized transportation costs daily, to fund recreation and therapeutic services not covered by state rates. In short, it is essential to the safe, quality services people you love need.
The Montgomery County match for DD services has been reduced over the past few years by more than 20%. We are not going to get it back to previous levels for many years, if ever. We have to pull together and ask that the continued reductions, the literal whittling away of these important funds, be stopped. I believe our local government does listen to its constituents, but we must speak with one voice. Please come.
Sincerely,
Susan Ingram
Executive Director
