URGENT - PLEASE HELP
 
Sad Girl and Father
Greetings!

On August 26, 2009, the three members of the Maryland Board of Public Works adopted budget cuts totaling $470 Million, effective on October 1, 2009.  The three members are Governor Martin O'Malley, State Treasurer Nancy Kopp and State Comptroller Peter Franchot.  Budget cuts include slashing 2% of the reimbursement rates of community service providers, a 10% cut to family support stipends and grants and a 15% cut to service coordination, totaling $21.7 Million. 
 
What this means is that those who need help the most are at risk.
 
According to the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Coalition, more than 22,000 adults and children receive community-based services in Maryland. Governor O'Malleys' budget cuts may result in shortsighted savings that will have a long-term devastating impact economically on the lives of people with developmental disabilities. 
 
Community-based nonprofit organizations like the Arc of the Central Chesapeake Region are stunned and saddened by the magnitude of these cuts.  Some of these cuts will challenge the organization as never before.  The 10% statewide reduction in Family Support Grants totals $11 million.   According to The Arc of Maryland Executive Director Christine Marchand, "These grants are the lifeline for families waiting for services."  The Governor's cuts to this program will impact over 1,000 families who struggle to care or their children at home. 
There's More
 
The Maryland-wide 2% rate cut for Community Services will impact the 22,000 adults and children with developmental disabilities helped by organizations such as The Arc of the Central Chesapeake Region.  Also, proposed for The Arc  are a 50% reduction in funding for respite support and a 10% reduction in family support.  The Arc is conducting program reviews to determine how to best manage this change.  The challenge for the organization is to optimize funding available and find a way to continue to provide quality services to families and children with developmental disabilities and maintain high quality services in the face of possible staff reductions. The cuts will negatively impact both people with disabilities, their families and the direct support staff they rely upon. 
 
The 15% reduction in case management services for people with developmental disabilities may result in staff layoffs. Case managers, also known as resource coordinators, help individuals with developmental disabilities to acquire services and act as ombudsmen to ensure their safety and quality of life. These coordinators also carefully monitor people who have recently transitioned from the now-closed Rosewood Center into community programs.  According to Nancy Pineles, Managing Attorney for Developmental Disabilities at Maryland Disability Law Center, "Many people do not have a family member to help them negotiate the system and rely on experienced case managers to advocate for the specialized services they need.  Cuts to this services will increase the risk of harm to individuals who require skilled coordination services." 



 
Please know that here at The Arc of the Central Chesapeake Region, we are doing everything we can to ensure the best for you and your loved ones.
Funding cuts of this magnitude will exacerbate the Waiting List Crisis.
Visit www.endthewaitnow.com  for more information on the Waiting List for services.  People with developmental disabilities and their families on the state's long Developmental Disabilities Community Services Waiting List have great concern.  Thousands of them have already been waiting for over a decade, and many caregivers are elderly.  Half of them have been determined by the state to be in crisis. 


Governor O'Malley's website has a page posted to ask for citizen feedback on the budget cuts.  Let him hear how the cuts are affecting people with developmental disabilities and their families! 

Click on the link below to be routed directly to the website:

 http://www.martinomalley.com/CutsFeedback