By Laura Howell, Executive Director, Maryland Association for Community Services.
A Gonzales poll conducted in September of over 800 voters in Maryland supports what many of us have always believed - that Maryland voters not only have compassion, but they believe in reasonable solutions to real problems facing their fellow citizens.
The issues at stake deeply affect thousands of Marylanders of all ages, across all regions.
In Maryland, 1 in 3 people have someone with a developmental disability in their lives – a family member, a friend, or someone else they care about, who may have Down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Autism, or another developmental disability.
Maryland ranks 43rd in the nation for funding for services for people with developmental disabilities, and the budget cuts made to development disability services this year have only made things worse.
Maryland’s Waiting List for adults and children with developmental disabilities includes thousands of people, many of whom are in crisis. Many have waited for decades for essential services, as caregivers grow older and struggle to continue to provide care to their adult children, and people with disabilities languish while they wait.
The families of people with developmental disabilities are often forced to quit a job or work part-time in order to care for their son or daughter at home. Without support, family stability is threatened, and Maryland loses tax revenues from people who can no longer work. Without access to services, people with disabilities themselves lose the opportunity to work, and to contribute to Maryland’s economy.
Unfortunately, once people come off the Waiting List, they enter a system of services that that has been extraordinarily under-funded for years.
This erosion of funding for critical services, combined with the recent budget cuts, has resulted in a fragile system of low-wage workers struggling to care for 22,000 Marylanders in residential, day and employment programs. These 22,000 people and their families rely on non-profits funded by the State to provide care and support, and the ability of agencies to continue to operate sound and safe programs is growing increasingly tenuous.
While services offered by private community providers cost far less than services provided in state institutions, the State continues to fall further and further behind in even minimal increases to keep pace with inflation, to ensure adequate funding for services in community settings. This year alone, services for people with developmental disabilities experienced two rounds of budget cuts, totaling over $30 million.
Although this is certainly a depressing situation for people with disabilities, their families, and the agencies that provide services, the results of a Gonzalez poll conducted in September are heartening. The charts below illustrate the responses of over 800 voters across Maryland.
When asked whether they would favor a five-cent per drink increase in the alcohol tax to fund services for people with developmental disabilities, they overwhelmingly expressed support - 75% favor the tax increase, and only 17% oppose it. The support cuts across party lines, with 63% of Republicans, 70% of Independents, and 83% of Democrats polled answering favorably.
Notably, in every region of the state, a majority of those polled strongly support an increase in the alcohol tax to fund developmental disability services.
This poll clearly sends a message to our elected officials that despite popular wisdom that no one will support a tax increase, voters have the ability to understand the needs of their fellow citizens, and to support a smart and fair solution.
Legislation will be introduced this year in Annapolis that would address the critical needs of people with developmental disabilities, mental illness, and substance abuse. Senator Rich Madaleno and Delegate Bill Bronrott will again champion the legislation to increase the alcohol tax by 5 cents, to increase funding for all three types of services. The results of the Gonzalez poll, combined with town hall meetings across the state, illustrate the strong support for this legislation. The time is now to provide care and support for Maryland’s vulnerable citizens. In short, “5 cents makes sense”.
For the full results of the Gonzales poll, go here.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Compassion Trumps Pocketbook: Maryland Voters Support Increase in Alcohol Tax
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Disability Budget Protest Brings Hundreds to Annapolis
By Laura Howell, Executive Director, Maryland Association for Community Services.
This week, in the sweltering August heat, hundreds of Marylanders, including people with developmental disabilities, aging caregivers, direct support staff, and advocates, converged on Lawyer’s Mall in Annapolis with one message they chanted over and over – No More Cuts.
The fear of additional budget cuts to the Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) in the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene was palpable. Approximately 22,000 people receive community services from DDA, and 19,000 people are still waiting for assistance, many of them in crisis.
DDA services have been under-funded for years, with one in three providers operating with a negative operating margin. Developmental disability services were included in the first round of budget cuts earlier this summer. Further cuts could be catastrophic for some people who rely on those services for everything from basic help with eating, bathing, and dressing, to employment support, job coaching, and residential services.
Speakers at this week’s rally included two parents, from Howard and Baltimore Counties, who fear the impact potential budget cuts will have on the quality of life, safety and health of their children. Another speaker, just 19, starting his adult life in Prince George’s County, spoke of his fears of never being given the opportunity to live that life to the fullest. And a direct support staff from Montgomery County spoke of working two jobs, day and night, to support his family, while caring for people with disabilities.
The faces of the people who attended the rally, and the signs they brought with them, convey the message the best.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
People with Developmental Disabilities at Risk of Losing Services
By Laura Howell, Executive Director, Maryland Association for Community Services.
Developmental disabilities, like Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and Autism, begin in childhood and prevent people from living independently without substantial help. Over 22,000 adults and children with developmental disabilities receive community based services, including residential, employment and day programs. Over 19,000 people with developmental disabilities are on the State’s Waiting List for these same services, and thousands of people waiting are in crisis.
When state coffers were full, the State largely neglected these important services, both refusing to provide minimally adequate inflation rates, and limiting access to services for people, many of whom continue to be in crisis.
Because Maryland now faces serious fiscal challenges, policy-makers want everyone to “share the pain.” This would be a more equitable proposition if people with developmental disabilities had shared in the good times as well, but this did not happen.
One in three developmental disability providers already have a negative operating margin. If the state cuts funding for services that are already significantly under-funded, it will create a severe crisis. Likely repercussions will include discontinuation of services for some people, especially those with significant disabilities, discharging of people who require uncompensated care, and closing of programs that are no longer fiscally viable. In addition, the basic safety and health of some people with disabilities may be jeopardized.
Some argue that if state employees must feel the pain, so too should direct support staff in the community. However, the workers in the community continue to earn far less that their counterparts in state institutions. Whereas the state reimburses community providers $9.18 per hour for direct support workers, recent job postings showed starting wages of $12.42 per hour for state employees. Although efforts by the State and providers to raise the low wages of community-based staff have improved the situation, community staff still lag behind their state peers. Telling community workers to “share the pain” will only push the best employees to better-paying jobs in other community settings, such as nursing homes and assisted living providers, and people with disabilities will suffer.
Lastly, reducing access to essential care and supports will ultimately increase the costs to the State of Maryland by shifting costs to state institutions, hospitals, and Medicaid.
Marylanders with developmental disabilities can not afford any further reductions in funding. While state policy-makers face difficult choices to balance the budget, this is one area they cannot afford to cut.
For the independent fiscal analysis by the Community Services Reimbursement Rate Commission of developmental disability providers in the community, visit here.
For information on the thousands of people waiting for developmental disability services in Maryland, visit here.
And for briefing on funding for developmental disability services and direct support staff wages, see the following document.
