Disabilities
Editor, Times-Union:
People with disabilities in Indiana and their families face a quiet crisis. Funding to provide critical services is disappearing as state and federal officials look to reduce spending. Yet most of us have no idea that the people most at risk - people with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities - are paying painfully for the cuts.
In last Monday's edition of the Times-Union, you ran a story on the back page of the front section that detailed how changes in Medicaid contracts has resulted in people with severe disabilities losing benefits that allow staff to be with them all or part of a day. It told the story of a young man in Bloomington with cerebral palsy losing many hours of his staff support. It is an all too familiar story, and it's not just happening in Bloomington but here in Kosciusko County as well.
There are vulnerable people with severe disabilities, unable to respond on their own to a crisis (fire, injury) or personal need (toileting, hunger). Leaving them alone threatens their safety and well-being.
We at Cardinal Services and the families we serve see reduced Medicaid contracts daily. These and cuts to programs like transportation, day programs and work services have us struggling to find ways to keep each person safe, happy and well-served. We need our community to know that the cuts are affecting people with disabilities.
Furthermore, we need members of our community to learn more by going to www.INQuietCrisis.org to find out what's happening in the state and how they can help.
Thank you,
N. Jane Wear
CEO, Cardinal Services
via e-mail
Editor, Times-Union:
People with disabilities in Indiana and their families face a quiet crisis. Funding to provide critical services is disappearing as state and federal officials look to reduce spending. Yet most of us have no idea that the people most at risk - people with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities - are paying painfully for the cuts.
In last Monday's edition of the Times-Union, you ran a story on the back page of the front section that detailed how changes in Medicaid contracts has resulted in people with severe disabilities losing benefits that allow staff to be with them all or part of a day. It told the story of a young man in Bloomington with cerebral palsy losing many hours of his staff support. It is an all too familiar story, and it's not just happening in Bloomington but here in Kosciusko County as well.
There are vulnerable people with severe disabilities, unable to respond on their own to a crisis (fire, injury) or personal need (toileting, hunger). Leaving them alone threatens their safety and well-being.
We at Cardinal Services and the families we serve see reduced Medicaid contracts daily. These and cuts to programs like transportation, day programs and work services have us struggling to find ways to keep each person safe, happy and well-served. We need our community to know that the cuts are affecting people with disabilities.
Furthermore, we need members of our community to learn more by going to www.INQuietCrisis.org to find out what's happening in the state and how they can help.
Thank you,
N. Jane Wear
CEO, Cardinal Services
via e-mail
