Urgent Request from The Arc: Ask Governor to Say Yes to DDS Request

July 19, 2010

Joint Message from The Arc and ADDP

Time is Running Out for Consumers and Families on the cut lists

An important request will be arriving shortly on the desk of Governor Deval Patrick.   He will have to decide on whether to support a deficiency budget to address reductions in the Department of Developmental Services’ POS and state operated services accounts, or direct DDS to begin dropping people with developmental disabilities from service.

The decision must be made very soon; failure to do so will increase the number of people who may lose service; and will continue to build horrific anxiety for consumers and families fearful of receiving imminent cut off notices from the state.

The Governor, with the consent of the Legislature, has the authority to reallocate existing dollars within the budget to maintain essential and critical services. 

A deficiency budget request is generally made in times of an emergency to protect essential services and supports that might otherwise expose citizens to danger or crisis.

The Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services is currently discussing this request with the Governor and his staff, noting the pending loss of residential and day services for hundreds of Commonwealth citizens with developmental disabilities. 

If the Governor fails to endorse the deficiency budget request, then DDS will be forced to immediate begin discharging people with developmental disabilities from their group homes and begin the process of shuttering nearly 50 group homes across the state.

Both ADDP and The Arc of Massachusetts are urging the Governor to approve the request from DDS to prevent a human service catastrophe of people with developmental disabilities being abandoned with nowhere to go.

Many of the residents of both private provider (POS) and state owned group homes are over 40 years of age, many have either elderly parents or parents who have predeceased them.  Others may have  just graduated from residential schools and have no where else to go due to behavioral, medical or other needs. Denying service to these people would simply be cruel, to say nothing of being inconsistent with the values of the people of the Commonwealth.

The Arc and ADDP believe that the Governor understands the human dimension of this problem and may be responsive to this request to reallocate nearly $18 million in state expenditures.

Please call the Governor’s office at 617.725.4005 or send him an instant email by taking action at this link.  We urge you to call too!