Cuts Proposed by Agency for Disabled Questioned

More than 80 parents and care givers for the disabled packed a meeting room of the Developmental Disabilities Center in Orange on Thursday to question the nonprofit agency’s plans to close a $3-million gap in state funds for disabled services.

The agency, which serves about 7,000 disabled people in Orange County, in July cut more than $1.7 million in proposed spending for the current fiscal year to match an expected shortfall in state funds. By the time the state budget was signed in early September, however, the gap in the agency’s $38-million budget had grown another $1.3 million, according to Elaine Bamberg, chief executive officer of the center.

Proposals discussed at Thursday’s public hearing included reducing hours of respite care; asking clients to pay part of the cost of such care; placing children and others with special needs in group programs rather than providing one-to-one treatment, and contracting for services such as occupational and physical therapy as well as nursing services.

Many parents told the Developmental Disabilities Center’s board of directors that they feared a loss of quality service if they were forced to go to providers who had made the lowest bid to the agency.

Others feared that their children would not do well if they were placed in group programs rather than given individual therapy.

Another proposal was to ask therapists, nurses and other care givers to accept a 2% cut in reimbursement, a plan aimed at saving $760,000 through next June. That proved especially controversial when Bamberg acknowledged that some agency employees would be receiving merit raises.

When questioned about the expense of such merit raises, Bamberg said they would be given to only a small number of employees at a time when the agency has had to cut 32 positions and many workers are required to take on double and triple workloads.

One therapist suggested such merit raises were unfair given that the care providers themselves have gone without any increase in reimbursement for several years.

The agency’s board was scheduled to vote on the cost-saving plan and submit its final budget proposal this week to the state Department of Developmental Services, which funds the agency.