Here is some good info thanks to Hacienda Healthcare!
We need your help to contact legislators about preserving the services your family member depends on. Many legislators do not have a clear picture of a person with developmental disabilities. It is up to you to be sure your legislators know why your family member needs services. This is not the time to be proud of what they can do – be realistic about the services they need that you now receive, and why.
To find your legislators, go to http://www.azleg.gov/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp
or call 602.926.3559 for the Senate Roster or 602.926.4221 for the House of Representatives Roster.
We recommend you email your Senators and Representatives TODAY – they are making decisions now. You have one state senator and two state legislators who will be making decisions very soon for the new budget starting in July, and state revenues continue to drop. Stimulus dollars are helping, but they do not close the gap.
The following is a suggested format for your email letter. Legislators will usually open ones from people who live in their district – those they actually represent so in the subject line state A Note from a Family in Your District.
A suggested letter template:
Dear Representative (or Senator_____)
(Remember you have two reps and one senator who each should receive a letter.
(Begin with your name & address at the top so they immediately recognize that you are in their district.)
Since I live in your area, I am writing to you for help. My (son or daughter) is a (male or female) who is ____ years old. He or she is developmentally disabled (tell why - at birth or other circumstance). (Let your son or daughter’s personality come through in your message, but keep each part of the message 3 to 4 sentences).
In three sentences or less tell why your individual needs services. Be sure to be specific as to what your family member’s limitations are; for instance: doesn’t talk, can’t bathe without help, toileting, mobility, etc, and whether he or she can exist without those services. If your son/daughter has chronic illnesses, specify those as well.
Describe the services he or she now receives, and how your son or daughter benefits – in one or two sentences.
Add one or two sentences about what would happen if the service were no longer available because your provider closes due to cuts in services. Explain whether you could provide the care yourself, or if not, what would happen – if there is any option.
In your own words, ask your legislator to please consider how necessary the services are to your son or daughter’s safety and health. Ask the legislator if he or she would like to meet with your son or daughter.
If there is no response in two days, send a second email. Please contact me once you have sent your emails and once you have received a response from your legislators.
Appeals Court rules DES can trim funding for disabled
ReplyDeleteBy Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.01.2009
PHOENIX — Arizona is free to cut services to an estimated 30,000 residents with developmental disabilities, the state Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
In a unanimous decision, the judges found that nothing in state law bars the Department of Economic Security from reducing services, overturning a trial-court ruling blocking cuts made in response to a legislative order to trim spending.
The three-judge panel rejected arguments that those who have been getting help from the state are legally entitled to the services that have been specifically recommended for them.
The judges also concluded there was nothing illegal about the state reducing what it pays to organizations that provide services to those with disabilities — funding cuts challengers said would affect those services.
Thursday's ruling comes less than two months after Judge Joseph Heilman of Maricopa County Superior Court blocked the DES from cutting services. Heilman said he had reached the "inescapable conclusion" that the haste with which DES acted in cutting its spending "has served to create nothing less than mass confusion, anxiety and uncertainty" among those who receive benefits from organizations paid to provide services.
Heilman also said the DES acted to reduce services even though lawmakers did not relieve the agency of its legal responsibilities to provide care for those with mental-health problems.
Jennifer Nye, an attorney for the Arizona Center for Disability Law, said she was disappointed in the ruling.
"We know that thousands of adults and children with disability are going to be harmed by these cuts in services and rates," she said. Nye also called it "very shortsighted on the part of the state to balance its budget on the backs of its most vulnerable population."
Lawmakers made $580 million in spending cuts in late January as part of a plan to deal with a $1.6 billion budget deficit.
The DES share of that was close to $100 million. But the agency said its total cuts really amounted to more than $150 million, with cash taken from special accounts and the refusal of lawmakers to provide additional needed funds.
The DES, in turn, cut payments to service providers by 10 percent. It also eliminated services for people who are moderately developmentally disabled who, with support, can work in the private sector. And it dropped funding for early-intervention services for 2,000 children, from birth through age 3, who are at risk for developmental disability.
The appellate judges said lawmakers did nothing wrong in making a lump-sum cut to the DES budget and letting the agency decide what services to trim. They said legislators were faced with "a sobering assessment of plummeting revenues."