Hundreds of Disabled and Seniors at Capitol to Protest California Budget Cuts to Life Sustaining Services and Income

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Reductions in home care and income will leave thousands struggling to survive

By Jovan Agee

After the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office today released its report on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed 2008-09 state budget, hundreds of Californians—all people who use or advocate for the state’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program—criticized the unnecessary and drastic proposal for 18 percent cuts in vital domestic services. Those cuts would mean that low-income people with disabilities and seniors lose precious hours of help with meal preparation, clean-up, housekeeping, laundry, and food shopping, all of which make it possible for them to avoid or delay costly and unnecessary institutional care.

“Which day of the week should I go without my meals, Mr. Governor? That’s what you and other lawmakers are asking me to decide if you go forward with these cuts,” said Herb Meyer, 76, a disabled consumer of IHSS services in Marin County.

Individuals eligible for IHSS services have disabilities, are 65 or older, or blind, and are unable to live safely at home without help. The IHSS program uses state, county and federal funding to enable IHSS consumers to hire a caregiver. Most of the people who use IHSS also rely on federal funds called Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and state funds called State Supplementary Payments (SSP). They are among the 1.2 million blind, aged and disabled Californians who, who rely on this income for all of their living expenses; they cannot afford to pay for the home care services the state is proposing to cut.

People who rely on IHSS for home care and SSI/SSP are the targets of multiple cuts in the proposed state budget: the IHSS cut, no Cost of Living Adjustment for SSI; elimination of crucial Medi-Cal services; and cuts to other services and programs they rely on, including Adult Day Health Centers, and Adult Protective Services, among others.

Budget system must change to protect the poor

The coalition of home care supporters who rallied today at the state Capitol spoke out against the domino effect of multiple cuts and the unfair targeting of the poorest Californians.
“We need a fair balancing of this avoidable deficit crisis with a combination approach that includes raising revenue,” said Frances Gracechild, Co-Chair of the Quality Homecare Coalition and Executive Director of Resources for Independent Living. “These across-the-board cuts are callous. When it comes to valuable programs like IHSS, state officials should stop blaming it on overspending. Increases in IHSS are largely pushed by demographic changes – California is growing and more people are living longer.”