|
An Important Letter from Steve Dale regarding the Lanterman Act
California's system of services to persons with developmental disabilities is facing its greatest challenge in 25 years, and could be fighting for its very existence. I have been involved in advocacy for persons with disabilities for my entire adult lifetime and I do not remember a time that I wasn't told that there is a budget crisis, but this is palpably different. I know that there is a great fatigue for many families and advocates - but the system is in serious danger and if we do not muster every ounce of our resources we will likely sustain losses that can never be recovered. If you think this is an overstatement - consider the dismantling of the California's community mental health system decades ago.
So understanding that we ALL need to pay attention and get involved if we hope to address these issues, this alert is directed not only at persons with developmental and intellectual disabilities and their families but also to those who serve them. We have what is called a stakeholder system that also includes teachers, case workers, residential providers, bus drivers, day care workers, trustees, care managers, and the occasional attorney to name just a few.
I have come to three conclusions about what we need to do as a community:
1. Many of the stakeholders of this system don't know their own history
The fact is that many of us are getting older - well of course, we are all getting older - and the advocates that created this system are aging out.
 I have a good friend named Betsy Katz - a parent and advocate as well as Board Member of the ARC of California. I do my best to attend every rally and hearing I can, and last year we met at a march in Sacramento and she made a poignant observation. She looked at the thousands of persons in the march and asked me "who is under represented here?" Turns out it is the parents of the younger children who were largely not in attendance. It certainly isn't because the parents of the younger children were not invited or didn't care - but I believe that when parents become a part of the disability community they go through a learning process as their children grow up. When their children are younger, their focus tends to be on the schools and not the needs of the regional center system. They have no idea that it was the Lanterman Act that created these centers. As far as they know this system is how things have always been and always will be. The fact is - the Regional Centers are losing their funding and this loss will harm their children more than it will the older members of our community.
In order to continue the movement, we need to know our own history. The Arc of California gave a great presentation regarding the parent's movement given by their executive director, Tony Anderson which can be viewed by clicking here.
2. Most members of our community don't recognize the scope of the threat to the Lanterman Act
Our current system was created from a movement that began over 50 years ago. When we start looking at how services for persons with developmental disabilities moved from the institutions to the community system that now is in peril, you will learn how the Lanterman Act created a system of consumers and vendors. You will often hear advocates stating that they want to save the Lanterman Act. The Lanterman Act, oddly enough, is not in jeopardy.
It is the entitlement to services created under the Lanterman Act that is in jeopardy. This entitlement was created in the landmark case "The ARC of California v. DDS" which dealt with a budget crisis in the mid 1980's. The case held that the Lanterman Act created an entitlement to services (click here to download.) This case gives a probable recipe for what is likely to happen if we continue on the present course. The good news is that in 15 minutes you can actually learn how the entitlement was created by watching a segment of a video what was produced last Fall featuring Chad Carlock. To watch the video clip, click here. If you are short of time and wish to go straight to the entitlement segment 20 minutes into the presentation click the section called "Sacramento Bee, Nov 1984". (It could take a few minutes to load on your computer - be patient.) By watching this segment the viewer should be able to clearly understand the threat.
No legislator wants to be the one that killed the system - the loss of the entitlement would likely come in 2 steps. Step One - underfund the system so it can't fulfill its missions. Step Two - force the Department of Developmental Services to go to the legislature and say "we've done our best but there is nowhere else to go to for further funding." This will "force" the legislature to amend the Lanterman Act, effectively eliminating the entitlement. That will be the end of California's Regional Centers. The current system established by the Lanterman Act has been under great economic strain for way too long. As we start seeing programs like residential services fail, it will be difficult if not impossible to resurrect these programs when the economy rebounds. The bottom line - when the program is gone - it is gone.
Merely surviving with cuts that are less severe than first proposed could be a very shallow victory. We need to support the organizations that support our disabled community so we don't get to Step Two. This is what leads us to my third conclusion:
3. The organizations advocating for our community needs our support more than ever before.
It is an odd phenomenon that many of the disability organizations that are fighting the hardest to preserve our system are at the same time seeing their memberships reduced. Clearly, this is because of the strain families are facing economically. But this is exactly the wrong time to drop support. We need to increase the support. I have two primary organizations who focus on developmental disabilities that I support, and of course there are many more. First are the ARCs, both at the state level and at the local level. (for that matter the national level needs support also.) For instance - most of the dues at the state and local level are minimal - usually $25. Click here for state membership and here for the locals. They have been very active legislatively on very few dollars with exceptional work by their lobbyist - Greg DeGiere' and their executive director, Tony Anderson. The ARCs do an incredible job of squeezing membership dues and donations to get the most value for our community. If you are looking for an organization that puts your dollars to work - you can't make a better choice. One service that they provide free to the general public to help keep them informed is the Monday Morning Memo. You can sign up here.
The second group I actively support is the California Disability Community Action Network. CDCAN is a non partisan network that supports the advocacy efforts of Marty Omoto. Any of us who are signed up for his action alerts get moment-by-moment accounts of Marty's advocacy. To sign up for the CDCAN Alerts - click here. Marty is a diligent advocate dedicated to keeping people informed. For instance, two alerts came over the internet as I wrote this piece.
I am hoping that you are inspired to act. The time is NOW!
Stephen W. Dale, J.D., LL.M
The Dale Law Firm, PC
| 
