Today, Way Two of the 20 Ways in 20 Days Campaign looks at how a cuts-only approach to meeting Minnesota’s needs will jeopardize the independence of people with disabilities.
Proposed Cut: The Minnesota House and Senate propose various spending freezes and enrollment caps for disability waiver programs, which will impact disability services.
Consequence: Eighteen-year-old Koty has profound nonverbal autism and epilepsy, requiring around the clock supervision. His primary caregivers are his mother, a working single parent, and his 75-year-old grandmother. Home Community Options (HCO) Resource Home in Winona provides Koty with supportive services and skills training after school and on Saturdays, and services six days a week during the summer.
Services like those provided for Koty and other children and young adults living with their families are already underfunded due to prior cuts. Additional cuts will jeopardize HCO’s ability to continue providing these services, creating a devastating hardship for 43 families and a ripple effect throughout the community. If HCO is no longer able to function, jobs will be lost and working parents will no longer have needed care and reprieve. Opportunities for children and young adults to engage in their communities, socialize with peers, and receive training allowing them to reach their full potential will be significantly diminished.
Solution: Let’s protect Minnesota’s communities, residents and quality of life. We cannot afford to take a cuts-only approach to meeting our state’s needs, jeopardizing the independence of people with disabilities. Minnesotans know we need a balanced approach, one that includes raising revenues based on ability to pay, in order to maintain critical state services that support Minnesotans in tough times and invest in our future.
Invest in Minnesota, a coalition of faith, labor and nonprofits (including the Minnesota Budget Project) supporting revenue raised fairly, has launched a 20 Ways in 20 Campaign. The campaign is releasing a new testimonial every week day April 25 through May 20 to demonstrate the damage of a cuts-only approach.
- For more information about cuts that take crucial services from people with disabilities, contact Denny Theede with Home and Community Options at 507-474-9526.
- For more information about the 20 Ways in 20 Days Campaign or Invest in Minnesota, contact Leah Gardner at 651-757-3063.
- Download the PDF version of this story to spread the word about the impact of proposed budget cuts.
-Leah Gardner
