Call for Action to Stop Further DDS Cuts

On June 10, the California Association for the Retarded (CAR) sent out an alert urging people to call, write or fax the members of the Joint Budget Conference Committee.

At issue is a proposal to cut the Department of Developmental Services’ (DDS) budget by another 1.25% - a cut that, as CAR explains in the alert, is not necessary as the funds to cover the reduction can be found in an over-funded and under-utilized program.

Included in the alert was a sample letter members could use to send their views to the attention of the Chair of the Senate Budget Conference Committee, State Senator Denise Ducheny. The letter reads, in part:

The developmental disabilities service system has had its funding cut by over $500 million over the past two years. Providers are already subject to a continuing 3% cut and a further 1.25% cut has been proposed. The Assembly rejected this cut and we want you to do the same. It is our starkly real concern that this cut will bring the system to the verge of collapse as operating losses mount, service is diminished and people who need service are left without it.

The additional 1.25% cut is not necessary. There is a ‘prevention program’ operated by regional centers which is to receive $36 million for case management for 17,000 infants age 0-3 years, but only 4,100 infants have been enrolled. The program is over-funded and under-enrolled, and ought to be funded based on actual caseload – and the balance of the funding used to offset the elimination of the 1.25% cut. The estimated extra $25 million in the program can cover the funding cut and eliminate the need for it.

The CAR position supports the Assembly action to eliminate the cut and the related trailer bill language. (Trailer bills set forth the legislature’s directions on how funds are to be spent.)
People are asked to specify their support for the DDS version of the budget before the
Conference Committee, as approved by the Assembly.

If you would like to receive a copy of the alert and sample letter, email PHA at info@parenthospitalassociation.org.

You can also contact CAR at:
California Association for the Retarded
1220 S Street, Suite 100
Sacramento, CA 95811
(916) 498-1635
carforchoice@aol.com

Contact information for all members of the committee is as follows:

Assembly
Bob Blumenfield (D-Van Nuys), Vice-Chair
State Capitol, Room 6026
Sacramento, CA 95814
TEL - (916) 319-2040
FAX - (916) 319-2141

Connie Conway (R-Visalia)
State Capitol, Room 6027
Sacramento, CA 95814
TEL - (916) 319-2034
FAX - (916) 319-2134

Felipe Fuentes (D-Los Angeles)
State Capitol, Room 3098
Sacramento, CA 95814
TEL - (916) 319-2039
FAX - (916) 319-2139

Jim Nielsen (R-Biggs)
State Capitol, Room 6031
Sacramento, CA 95814
TEL - (916) 319-2002
FAX - (916) 319-2102

Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley)
State Capitol, Room 2032
Sacramento, CA 95814
TEL - (916) 319-2014
FAX - (916) 319-2114

Senate
Denise Ducheny (D-San Diego), Chair
State Capitol, Room 5035
Sacramento, CA 95814
TEL - (916) 651-4040
FAX - (916) 327-3522

Bob Dutton (R-Inland Empire)
State Capitol, Room 5094
Sacramento, CA 95814 95814
TEL - (916) 651-4031
FAX - (916) 327-2272

Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar)
State Capitol, Room 3048
Sacramento, CA 95814
TEL - (916) 651-4029
FAX - (916) 324-0922

Mark Leno (D-San Francisco)
State Capitol, Room 4061
Sacramento, CA 95814
TEL - (916) 651-4003
FAX - (916) 445-4722

Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach)
State Capitol, Room 4126
Sacramento, CA 95814
TEL - (916) 651-4027
FAX - (916) 327-9113

Glen Ellen community eyes main administration building at SDC for community center

Community members interested in renovating the main administration building on the Sonoma Developmental Center campus plan to meet again on Monday, June 7, to further explore their options. The old administration building has not been used in years and would require a fair amount of renovation to make it usable, but the potential in the historic building makes it seem well worth the effort it would take.

Preliminary plans, drawn up by architect and Glen Ellen native Mark Perry, include a theater and many rooms that could serve community groups and projects in the future. Perry is also optimistic that there are a variety of good funding sources available.

You can read more about Monday's meeting at Abandoned SDC building eyed as community center in the Kenwood Press. According to the article, the public is invited to attend the meeting, which is scheduled for June 7 at 2 p.m. in room 109 of the ARO building (King 29), on Holt Street, just off Arnold Drive, next to the baseball field in the center of the complex.

New social media website for families with special needs children

The latest venture of Vast Horizons, Inc., a San Francisco Bay Area company that operates assisted living homes, is a social network dedicated to families and caregivers of special needs children. Called VHI Connect it aims to connect individuals with special needs, their families, and their caregivers with information, services, supplies, and each other.

The site has not launched yet, but according to VHI is coming soon. Billed as a private network that will include an ecommerce facility and allow members to post classified ads as well as share information, expect the new VHI Connect network to differ significantly from other established platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Certainly there is real value in an online forum and gathering place dedicated to a community with a shared interest or need, which is why the Ning networks have been popular.

If you do use Twitter and would like to connect with others, you can also join The Coffee Klatch (@TheCoffeeKlatch) for a daily interactive forum on a variety of topics relating to both physical and emotional disabilities. Visit The Coffee Klatch website for discussion times and more information.
For more information about the new VHI Connect network, visit the VHI Connect website at www.vhiconnect.org.

Opportunity to Discuss the Lanterman Act Coming Up

Periodically the PHA schedules a conference call to provide community members the opportunity to talk about the Lanterman Act. The next teleconference is this Monday (tomorrow), May 3rd at 8:00 p.m.

If you would like to participate in Monday's call, please send an email to info@parenthospitalassociation.org and request the call-in number and code for joining the call. Prepare for the call by reading any part of the Act and then we can discuss it.

The Lanterman Act is an important resource for families of the developmentally disabled, and we encourage everyone to familiarize themselves with its provisions. For more information, read our previous post Lanterman Act is Key Resource for Families of the Developmentally Disabled.

Families and Staff Rally to Save Lanterman Developmental Center

On Monday, April 26, families and staff plan a rally to stop the planned closure of Lanterman Developmental Center in Pomona, Calif. The rally is organized to precede the April 29 state Senate hearing to consider the proposed Lanterman Developmental Center closure plan.

Date:    April 26, 2010
Time:   10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Place:  Lanterman Developmental Center
3530 Pomona Blvd., Pomona, Calif. (front entrance on Diamond Bar Blvd.)

At least 100 people are expected to participate. The event is sponsored by the Save Lanterman coalition.

For more than 80 years, Lanterman Developmental Center has cared for thousands of Californians with developmental disabilities who depend on the facility’s unique combination of medical, therapeutic and rehabilitative round-the-clock services. The facility is now slated for  closure, primarily due to state budget cuts.

Save Lanterman coalition members say equal or better – or more cost-effective – services for these vulnerable individuals simply are not available in other settings, such as group homes.

In an announcement for the rally, Robert Hazard, whose sister lives at Lanterman, said, “The transfer of Lanterman residents to community settings would jeopardize their lives and those of others who rely on a community system that is not sufficient to care for everyone with complex medical and behavioral needs at the professional level required. There is no assurance that the residents will receive the services they need if they are moved to the community.”

“We believe a facility closure at the very least would be a highly disruptive experience causing clients great emotional and physical stress, and at the very worst would lead to dangerously inadequate care in inferior, little-regulated group homes,” said Tony Myers, a Lanterman Senior Psychiatric Technician, in the same announcement.

State senators will consider the formal closure plan at the April 29 hearing in Sacramento, choosing whether to adopt DDS’ proposal plan, to amend it or to oppose it. The Save Lanterman coalition asks members of the public to help them convince legislators to oppose the closure.

For more information, including legislators' contact details, visit saveldc.org. You can also add your name to a petition showing your support for Lanterman and its hundreds of residents.