‘Every year we’re fi ghting’
Cuomo plans more cuts to state’s overburdened group homes
BY BEN VERDE
Following a decade of budget
cuts, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s
offi ce is proposing yet
another round of slashes to
service providers that care for
for New Yorkers with intellectual
and developmental disabilities
in the 2021 budget — a
move that caregivers say will
devastate them and the people
they care for.
In an effort to manage the
budget shortfall spurred by
the coronavirus pandemic,
the state is asking the Offi ce
for Persons with Developmental
Disabilities to reduce its
budget by 5 percent for the
next fi scal year, the latest in a
long history of cuts to services
for developmentally disabled
New Yorkers.
“Every year we’re fi ghting,
social service funds are the
fi rst on the chopping block,”
said Canarsie state Sen. Roxanne
Persaud at a virtual rally
on Dec. 8. “The people who are
suffering the most are the fi rst
that we want to take funding
from.”
These types of services
have seen a multitude of cuts
over the past decade, including
a 6 percent budget cut to
OPDD in 2012. In the last year
alone, the agency has had to
impose a 20 percent withhold
on bills for state-paid services,
and change the system of billing
for residential facilities,
resulting in losses of $500
million for care providers
throughout 2020, according to
the New York City Family Advocacy
Information Resource.
These cuts threaten to further
devastate a social services
network already straining
under the weight of the pandemic,
with many residents
and employees of group homes
falling ill during the height of
the COVID-19 outbreak in New
York. Pandemic life has also
been particularly challenging
for developmentally disabled
New Yorkers who do not live in
group homes, as other services
like day programs and special
education services face similar
COURIER L 22 IFE, DEC. 18–24, 2020 PS
threats.
Caregivers predict any further
cuts will result in closed
group homes and day programs,
a reduction in available beds,
and higher operating costs.
A spokesperson for the
state’s budget offi ce attributed
the proposed cuts to a lack of
federal aid, and said minor
cuts were necessary to offset
larger reductions elsewhere.
Cuomo said on Dec. 9 that the
state will be forced to lay off
government employees absent
signifi cant cash from Washington.
“In the absence of federal
aid, we must consider spending
reductions, borrowing,
and revenue actions to offset
the state’s four-year, nearly
$63 billion revenue loss,” said
Freeman Kloppot. “Any permanent
spending reductions
will be made in discussion
with the legislature, keeping
in mind that any area we don’t
reduce spending will require
deeper reductions in another.”
Still, advocates fear the
cuts signify a backslide towards
the mid-20th century
when people with developmental
disabilities were treated
as undesirables — most famously
illustrated by the horrifi
c conditions uncovered at
the Willowbrook State School
on Staten Island in the 1980s.
“People are fearing that
we’re going backwards, back to
the days of Willowbrook,” said
Long Island Assemblymember
Missy Miller. “And I have to be
honest, it’s certainly starting
to feel that way.”
This story is part of an ongoing
series about group
homes on the front lines of the
COVID-19 crisis, and the pandemic’s
impact on those with
developmental disabilities.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo.. Reuters/Brendan McDermid