4MyChild: Help and Hope for Life

April 20, 2007

Florida to Cut Funding for People with Disabilities?

The Florida Legislature is considering capping services provided by the Agency for Persons with Disabilities. Advocates for the disabled - and several Democratic lawmakers - have urged budget writers to dip into reserves, often called the “rainy day fund,” to avoid making cuts that will severely affect people who are among the state’s most vulnerable.
The state’s Agency for Persons with Disabilities is facing a $150 million reduction in funding.
Hundred of families converged on the Capitol carrying umbrellas despite the sunshine- a call to continue to dip into the “rainy day fund.”

The House has already voted to shift some people out of a state program that provides up to 33 services, such as home nurses or guardians. About 8,500 people would be shifted into a new program with just 11 types of services.

The Senate is proposing deeper cuts to programs funded by the agency that would affect more people, including people in group homes.

Joe Aniello, president of United Cerebral Palsy of South Florida, said about 20 group homes with about six residents each in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties stand to lose their funding and would have to close if the Senate’s proposal is adopted as is.

He has no idea where the residents would go, and said he doesn’t think lawmakers do either.

Several lawmakers have said they don’t want to hurt people enrolled in the program. However, the agency has outspent its budget. That, in turn, prevents new families from getting services and keeps the agency in the red.

Legislative budget writers and Gov. Charlie Crist promised to try to find money to help.