I just wrote this to the Boston Globe, my state senator, and my state reps, regarding the proposed senate budget for Massachusetts. The two items I mention are only a few of the vital services being cut, but they jumped out at me, because in just three short years, Nat will require these. If you live in Massachusetts, write to your state senators NOW.<\/p>\n
Oh, and by the way, I have noticed many many new trees being planted along Route 9, which is a state highway — newly paved, too, by the way. So Massachusetts money for trees and asphalt but not for vulnerable people? Call me the new Lorax: I speak for the disabled.<\/p>\n
Dear Cindy,<\/span> Here are some of the cuts proposed (taken from the ARCMass website): WHY FUNDING IS NEEDED: If these cuts go through, it will have a domino effect, impacting the 33,000 individuals with disabilities served through the Department of Developmental Services, not to mention those served through other agencies. Since 2006, DDS\u2019 budget has grown just 1.8% per year in state-only dollars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I just wrote this to the Boston Globe, my state senator, and my state reps, regarding the proposed senate budget for Massachusetts. The two items I mention are only a few of the vital services being cut, but they jumped out at me, because in just three short years, Nat will require these. If you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pSTth-39","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/susansenator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/susansenator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/susansenator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/susansenator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/susansenator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/susansenator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/susansenator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/susansenator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/susansenator.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
I know you must realize that <\/span>the Senate’s budget is nothing less than a horrorshow. They are gutting Transition Services and Day Services for adults with developmental disabilities. There will be nothing for these people to do with themselves all day. What will people like my autistic son Nat, now 19, do with a situation like this? He has come so far, due to his education, but he still will require support, and yet now the Senate is basically saying, “Oh, well, have a nice life.” There is no justification for these actions. None. This is nothing less than evil.<\/span> I am asking you as a woman with a great record in human services and a great heart to stand up and read this email and tell them that they are wrong to make these cuts.<\/span>
–Susan Senator<\/p>\n
\u00b7 6,500 adults will not get Day Habilitation services will have no place to go during the day because of the elimination of that program ($115 million cut).
\u00b7 730 individuals getting Extended Employment services through MRC will lose those services and likely lose their jobs or have no place to go during the day ($4.9 million cut).
\u00b7 10,000 families will lose crucial Family Support and DESE-DMR Services, a wide-ranging and cost-effective program that funds everything from respite to afterschool programs to specialized medical equipment, and helps keep families together ($32 million cut).
\u00b7 650 people will lose transportation services, which allows people with disabilities to get to their jobs, doctors appointments, grocery stores, etc.
\u00b7 608 students with disabilities transitioning from school to adult life will not get the services they need to make the transition successfully.
\u00b7 Families with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder will see reductions in Autism Division, DESE-DMR and Family Support line-items<\/p>\n