Make a Difference Today, Help Renew Early Start and Increase the Budget for Developmental Services

Please read the following message from the Association of Regional Center Agencies, and then do your part - make a difference today and help renew Early Start and increase the developmental services budget.

The Governor's recently revised Budget does not undo any of the damage done by years of cuts that continue to so severely hurt so many people. But the Legislature is recognizing the critical importance of renewing Early Start... and reinvesting in the system as a whole. This Friday's Budget hearing is a chance to remind them that this matters - that we matter.

Our two major priorities are Early Start renewal and a 5% increase in funds for developmental services.

To renew Early Start would cost a mere $22 million. That's such a small price, for such a huge difference.

The 5% increase in funds would cost $160 million. It's a critical investment in the strength of our system. But why?

In the past five years, Health and Human Services Agency, and its 20 Departments, Offices, Boards, and Committees, took $2 billion in cuts. $1 billion fell on a single department - Developmental Services. Our system. That speaks for itself. But it can be doubly expensive, as history shows.

Federal funds provide about half the budget for serving people with developmental disabilities. Funds are contingent on meeting certain criteria. In 1997, California failed a federal compliance audit, costing the state almost $1 billion in federal funds. That funding is again in jeopardy because of inadequate state funding for providers and regional centers. [Click to learn more about regional center and service provider funding.]
 
Underfunding means centers can’t comply with caseload ratios, and providers can’t meet service expectations. To avoid another loss of federal money, a stop-gap repair and a long-term solution are needed. This can be accomplished by increasing provider rates and regional center operations by 5% annually until a cost-based model can be implemented.

You have a chance to raise your voice in support of Early Start and our service system. Funding for community-based services will be discussed very soon. And the public's perspective will be part of that discussion. The two hearings are this Friday, May 16, at 9 a.m. in the Assembly, and next Wednesday, May 21, at 10 a.m. in the Senate.

This is our last best opportunity. Governor Brown's Budget doesn't increase the budget for our system. But the Legislature can change that... if you tell them why they should.

Look up your legislative representative and tell them why they should increase the budget for developmental services and renew Early Start

A Call to Action from the Lanterman Coalition

Read the following Call to Action from the Lanterman Coalition and then do your part to make a difference today.
 
It is true that Governor Brown has not yet responded  to the serious appeal made by our community of advocates of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families, their providers and all their supporters. It is also true that his May revised budget continues the approach that allowed the state to make most of the Health and Human Services cuts during the recession to the supports and civil rights of people with disabilities in our community.
 
However, it is NOT true that we have lost the fight. Actually the fight has just begun to heat up. We have so many legislators who have stood up for us, and more keep coming. They know what community providers and regional centers mean to their districts and their constituents with disabilities and families. Now is the time to step it up a notch and show the budget committees we are not going away, people with developmental disabilities deserve to be a priority in California.

Read the entire Call to Action and then do your part to make a difference today