Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Safety net of programs for children with disabilities in Florida collapsing

From The Herald-Tribune in Sarasota, Fla.

Long-standing social safety net programs that provide services to extremely vulnerable populations are starting to crumble as governments trim budgets in the recession.

Many nonprofit leaders have been warning about the trend over the last year, and fear the problem will only worsen in coming months.

"Quite frankly, I think next year is going to be tougher than this year and this year has been pretty tough," said Stewart Stearns, executive director of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, one of the region's leading advocates for nonprofits.

Even small cuts have a dramatic impact, as Sarasota resident Karen Feduccia discovered in the loss of a certified professional to periodically watch her six-year-old (pictured) , who has Down Syndrome and is mostly deaf.

The service was cut back after Sarasota County recently eliminated $9,000 for families with disabled children from its $7.4 million human service agencies budget.

Picking up the full cost will be difficult for Feduccia, who recently lost her job. A teenage baby sitter will not suffice given her son's special needs.

Sarasota County leaders debated the $9,000 cut to the Family Network on Disabilities' respite program for a few minutes and decided the tax revenue was not there to continue the contribution. With that, a service that received county dollars for eight years may disappear.

The county's 9 percent October budget reduction for human service agencies is likely a sign of more hardship to come.

Lawmakers face a $2.6 billion budget deficit heading into the spring legislative session and likely will debate cuts to medical care for the poor, programs for the disabled, mental health treatment centers and child welfare efforts, among other social services.

Federal economic stimulus money helped cushion the budget blow last year. The stimulus money may help again this year but it is unclear how much is available to Florida and some degree of budget cutting is likely.

"They plugged a lot of holes in the budget last year with stimulus funding and I don't think they used all of the money, so we're hopeful there will be some funding left over," said Jerry Thompson, chief executive of Coastal Behavioral Healthcare Inc., a mental health and substance abuse treatment center based in Sarasota that relies heavily on state spending. "But with billion-dollar deficits you have to figure there will be some cuts."

About $14 million of Coastal's $19 million budget comes from the state, mostly from the Department of Children and Families. Another $1.2 million comes from Medicaid reimbursements, which are partially funded by the state and could be cut if the federal government does not maintain the additional dollars that were awarded to Florida last year.

Stearns said there is no easy solution to the funding dilemma, but he has been meeting with other nonprofit executives to develop government policy recommendations and establish a more forceful nonprofit lobbying block.

"It would be nice if the community would replace those dollars, but how?" Stearns said. "I think that government funding is critical for some of these organizations to be able to survive."

Nonprofit agencies began experiencing big cuts last year as the economy stumbled. Sarasota County's budget for human service agencies dropped from $8.9 million in 2007 to $6.7 million this year with the most recent cuts.

Smaller agencies and ones that rely heavily on government dollars have been the hardest hit.

The Family Network relied on Sarasota County for half of the respite funding. The respite program provides six hours of relief each month for strained parents.

For Feduccia, respite provides peace of mind that she is leaving her son, Andrew, in capable hands while she runs errands or goes on a date with her husband.

Andrew is deaf in one ear and has limited hearing in the other. He communicates largely through sign language but often struggles to make his needs understood.

Family Network pays for a certified special education teacher who is fluent in sign language care for Andrew. The cost is about $1,800 for each family annually.

Feduccia said families of children with special needs often feel isolated and overwhelmed and the stress has strained her marriage at times. Nearly 80 percent of married couples with disabled children get divorced.

"When you have a broken family that also has a cost to society," Feduccia said. "If you don't help these families maintain their sanity you might see them under another budget item down the line."

Executive director Mary Smith built the Family Network from a parent-support group into an agency that identifies gaps in services for families of disabled children and raises money to meet the needs.

Over the last 10 years Smith expanded the agency's reach three-fold, going from a budget of $50,000 to $147,000 this year for three different programs that serve families in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Smith worries that the economy is causing a backward slide in the way society approaches disabled individuals and other vulnerable populations.

"These families need more support, not less support," Smith said. "We've worked very hard to get this far and it's frustrating when you're not making progress."