The disabled have not lost their voices.
Georgia Sullivan of New Windsor recently testified against Gov. David Paterson”™s proposed deficit reduction blueprint, which sets forth plans for a 10 percent budget cut for the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities services statewide.
She was one of more than 50 people who spoke at the regional budget oversight hearing held in Westchester County Nov. 5. State Sen. Carl Kruger, chairman, Senate finance committee, convened the hearing.
“We can”™t afford budget cuts,” testified Sullivan, a member of the board of directors of Orange AHRC, one of the largest employers in Orange County. “Cuts would impact provision of services for the people with developmental disabilities we serve, and would also have economic repercussions in the community,” she told the audience of more than 200 there to protest the reductions.
Christopher Fortune, executive director of Orange AHRC, said Paterson is misguided in his plan. “His proposal to save New York state $65 million by cutting OMRDD services will result in a cut of $156 million because of the lost federal share of Medicaid. The governor also refuses to look at revenue solutions such as a Medicaid trend, which would not cost New York state any additional dollars. If this plan is enacted, the local economy will suffer even more than it currently is,” Fortune said.
More than 2,000 people with developmental disabilities receive help to achieve personal, educational and occupational goals via Orange AHRC. The private, nonprofit offers an array of educational, adult day services and residential services for children and adults throughout Orange County.
