 "Photo: Asher Swan")
With mental health and disability service providers still reeling from the 3.5 percent budget cut from the 2009 fiscal year, employers and clients alike look to the current legislative session with trepidation.
According to the 2009 annual report, facilities may not be able to serve as many clients as in the past.
“Due to legislative budget cuts, the number of people served is expected to decline while the number of people waiting for services is expected to keep growing,” according to the report.
Executive Director at the Southwest Behavioral Center, Mike Deal, said the proposed budget cuts for the 2010-11 fiscal year in mental health services are $5 million and $1.5 million for substance abuse services. In addition a 5-percent cut is being proposed for the funds allocated to the Utah Division of Services for People with Disability (DSPD).
Southern Utah Executive Director for Danville Services Corporation Rod Ross said Danville Services Corporation, a privat, in-home care service probably will not be able to provide as many in-home services with the proposed budget cuts.
“It’s a scary thing because it will put many people back in their homes,” Ross said.
Deal said for the coming fiscal year, the service providers will be aided by funds from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. The real fear for him is what will happen in 2012 when all of the aid disappears.
Director of DSPD Alan K. Ormsby expressed in the annual report for the 2009 Fiscal Year both hope and fear for the 2010 fiscal year.
“Challenges are on the horizon,” Ormsby said. “If funding cuts continue, we will have a very difficult time maintaining the current mix of services offered. But there are many good things on the horizon as well.”
He said that if no action is taken to restore funding, the service providers that work with the DSPD will face further rate cuts.
According to the DSPD 2009 Fiscal Year report the majority of their services are in the clients’ home.
Hurricane resident Tony Tillius, a single parent, uses Danville daily to watch his son while he is at work.
Tillius’ son, Travis, 26, has autism. Travis is blind, not toilet trained and is not able to cross the street without assistance.
Tillius, a construction worker, said if Travis does not get the in-home services that he has been receiving from Danville, then he will not be able to keep his job because he will need to watch Travis.
He said he understands that everyone has budget cuts that need to be dealt with, but he thinks the way those with disabilities are being treated is going backward.
“I will beg, borrow and steal to support Travis,” Tillius said. “I will go back on food stamps and financial aid and I am not alone.”
Meagan and JJ Ray from Hurricane are on the DSPD waiting list to receive services to help them with their autistic son, Jayden.
According to the DSPD Web site, reported 4,825 individuals with disabilities were served in the 2009 fiscal year. A snapshot of the waiting list captured near the end of the fiscal year period shows 1,990 waiting for services.
Meagan Ray described her son as being about two years old mentally with the physical ability of a 21-year-old.
She voiced concern for the safety of her three younger daughters because her son is larger than she is.
“I am afraid that if we can’t get the help that we need my family won’t stay together,” Ray said.
According to the DSPD annual report for the 2009 Fiscal Year, special legislative session cut the funds for the waiting list by $900,000.
Since the July 2009 budget cuts, the DSPD waiting list has been frozen. The only way a client on the waiting list can get services is by court order.
According to the DSPD, most people have been waiting for services from one to four years (49 percent), followed by those who have waited five or more years (34 percent).
Deal said that he understood that the state has to make these tough decisions and they are especially hard when there is little or no money left.
He said as the public continues to meet with their local representatives, they can let them know their priorities regarding this issue.
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