Tag: 2024-25 State Budget

LA Times Articles Highlights Impact of Governor’s Proposed Funding Cuts to Disability Services

Last week, the Los Angeles Times Staff Writer Karen Garcia published an important investigative article showing how Governor Newsom’s proposed $1 billion funding cuts to disability services will impact individuals with developmental disabilities, their families and the workforce.

The Department of Developmental Services pays private contractors (service providers) to provide residential and day programs, including work and training activities, on a per-person basis using a combination of state and federal funds. But lawmakers recognized in the mid-2010s that the rates — which have been frozen or cut during previous state budget crises — did not support an adequate supply of providers to meet the need for services, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

Garcia interviewed Jordan Lindsey, Executive Director, The Arc of California for the story.

“When a family goes to a referred provider, they’re often met with waiting lists of many months,” said Lindsey. “Or, they’re turned away entirely because the provider doesn’t have enough staff to support the varying needs of new clients.”

Staffing levels are low across the state because wages start between $16 and $20 an hour for a difficult, complex job, he added.

Click HERE to download the full article, or use the following link to view online: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-04-17/california-budget-cuts-would-harm-autistic-young-adults

We encourage you to share with your networks, and/or write a letter to the editor to provide comments, and urging the Legislature to reject Governor Newsom’s proposal to delay/cut $1 billion in funding for disability services.

If you haven’t already done so, you can click HERE to email the Governor and your elected officials using our Action Alert online. It only takes two minutes.

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California Faces $68 Billon Dollar Deficit, while Californians with Developmental Disabilities and their Families Struggle

California’s budget deficit could hit a record $68 billion in the 2024-25 fiscal year, according to a report released last week from the non-partisan Legislative Analyst Office (LAO). The projected deficit is a result of a steep decline in tax revenue and comes after two years of record surpluses due to federal COVID-19 relief funding and large gains by California’s wealthiest.

As mentioned in the report, a major cause of the downturn is that the number of unemployed workers in California has risen nearly 200,000 since the summer of 2022. This has resulted in a jump in the state’s unemployment rate from 3.8 percent to 4.8 percent. This rise in unemployment has acutely impacted Californians with developmental disabilities and their families, who continue to struggle to find supports and services due to the lack of staff at service providers and regional centers. These state funded programs can only hire if the state provides adequate funding to do so, and an increase in reimbursement rates scheduled for July 2024 will help to employ more direct support staff – yet it will still require more rate increases to be truly competitive.

If the deficit projections are actualized, then the Legislature and Governor will have to use funds in the state’s rainy-day account, currently at $24 billion, and look at other options to balance the budget and jumpstart the economy. More employed Californians will be a key to turning around the state’s budget woes, and with investment into our developmental services system, service providers and regional centers will be ready to hire in a competitive employment market.

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