Hard times for social service agencies

What happens if special needs children become adults who can't work enough to support themselves, or who need assistance because parents have died or are unable to support them, or whose extended family members are unable to absorb the cost of their care?

Living in Lake Bluff, I frequently see developmental disabled adults arrive and return home by commuter train after spending the day working at Lambs Farm in Libertyville. Lambs Farm cares for 250 developmental disabled adult. From time to time, I see adults being helped by Lambs Farm picking up trash in Lake Bluff under the supervision of a caring Lambs Farm employee.

The situation is grave here in Illinois, prompted by past budget cuts for social service agencies, and even more critical because of additional cuts proposed in the governor's FY11 budget. This is not a partisan political issue, but a systemic one.

Instead of being compassionate toward the needy and the disadvantaged, state legislators are showing their disrespect for the developmental disabled as human beings. To further compound the situation, the General Assembly adjourned May 7, unable to decide on a tax hike or what to cut or how to cut the FY11 budget. Gov. Pat Quinn's proposed FY11 budget, effective June 30, 2010, includes:

•Reductions to community-based services and supports for persons with developmental disabilities by $125 million through a 2.5 percent across-the board rate reduction.

•Elimination of non-Medicaid grants.

•Establish a 45-day payment cycle extension. Countryside Association is an organization in Palatine that tends to adults with disabilities. Countryside is deeply concerned, as are many social service agencies, about Quinn's proposed $25 million in budget cuts and how the reduced funding will affect Countryside's work to assist needy adults who depend on the organization for assistance.

Despite facing a budget deficit amounting to billions of dollars, a $124 million cut in funds to assist social service agencies is an insignificant amount of money when pitted against Quinn's massive proposed Illinois FY11 budget in the billions of dollars!

Let your senator and representative know it is unacceptable to cut funds to social service agencies who assist those among us who cannot care for themselves.

Nancy J. Thorner

Lake Bluff