Families tell lawmakers human services programs are crucial

From left, Sen. Hinda Miller, Rep. Martha Heath and Rep. Mitzi Johnson, heard testimony from around the state via Vermont Interactive Television. Photo by Josh Larkin.

Correction and editor’s note: In addition to the Vermont Interactive Television hearing held on Monday night, the House Appropriations Committee will hold two public hearings on the budget next week, on Tuesday, Feb. 22 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Room 10 of the State House, and Wednesday, Feb. 23 from 9 to 11 a.m. in Room 11 of the State House. This article originally implied that a public hearing on the budget would not be held in the well of the House Chamber. This was incorrect. We apologize for that erroneous assumption.

The joint House and Senate Appropriations Committees’ held their first public hearing on the 2012 budget via Vermont Interactive Television.

At issue was Gov. Peter Shumlin’s proposal to cut $1.4 million in state funding for regional nonprofit mental health programs and $3.2 million for developmental disability services. In addition, programs for seniors would lose $1.3 million in General Fund monies.

The hearing, held live on Vermont Interactive Television, was designed to provide a platform for more geographically dispersed Vermonters to express their views.

Rep. Martha Heath, D-Westford, Sen. Hinda Miller, D-Chittenden, and Rep. Mitzi Johnson, D-Grand Isle, heard testimony from a quiet room in Williston. Advocates for, and members of, the mental health and developmental disability communities spoke from many of the 15 statewide VIT locations. The disparate parties convened in cyberspace.

In Montpelier, about 15 people gathered in a basement room at the Department of Labor to “attend” the hearing. Participants watched television monitors in silence, gave testimony into the camera when their allotted time came and left when finished.

Family members shared stories of the hardships they have faced in the aftermath of previous cuts to services. The additional proposed reductions, they said would intensify the difficulties of caring for loved ones with mental illness or developmental problems.

I don’t think it’s correct to assume that all Vermonters are opposed to raising taxes. You can raise my taxes. I ask you not to cut services to families already under stress.”
~ Robin Castle
Barre City resident

Laura Atkinson from Worcester testified about her aging mother who suffers from advanced dementia. “Our family is doing as much as we can,” she said. Atkinson and her three siblings have “finely tuned” their schedules to provide round-the-clock care for their 87-year-old mother. One sister has been unable to provide as much help as she would like because the associated stress has had a negative effect on her health and her ability to care for her small children. “We have to take care of our own health and ability to make a livelihood,” Atkinson said. “We take such good care of her. Keeping her in her own home with people she knows is keeping her healthy. It’s saving money.”

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure was the theme Monday night. A mother of a grown child with autism said that if the state doesn’t support home care for disabled Vermonters, they’ll end up in nursing home care at double or triple the cost.

An increase in the nursing home budget prompted one witness to ask if the intention is to return to the days on institutionalized segregation for those who need constant care.

Quite a few witnesses were parents of children with developmental disabilities and autism spectrum disorder. These children receive services through their school districts until graduation, at which point they transition to the mental health system. Usually, the annual budget provides a modest increase to cover the needs of these graduating students, but this budget would cut the funding to mental health agencies. As a result, these graduating students would effectively be competing with existing mental health clients for a shrinking pot of service funding.

Many of these young adults require companionship to be safe. If an accompanied community job isn’t available, it might require that a parent give up a job to stay home with them. Such situations create financial hardships for families.

Cindy Marshall of East Montpelier spoke from the Waterbury site about services she receives for her 15-year-old son with autism. Respite and personal care services enable her to hold down a full time job. She spoke of the incremental cuts over the past several years, including a pay cut to personal care workers.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” she said. “We’re already stretched to the limit. I don’t know how I would be able to work a full time job as a single mom with any other cuts. I know keeping Vermonters working is a priority.”

Floyd Nease, Executive Director of the Vermont Association of Mental Health (and a former representative from Lamoille) stated that the proposed budget cuts “would do damage to the system in one year that the Douglas cuts did in three years.”

Dennis Ross, center and on left screen, a case manager for the Central Vermont Council on Aging, gives testimony to the panel. Photo by Josh Larkin.

“This budget would cut services for families whose kids have very complex needs,” Nease said. “It seems that these cuts affect those people disproportionally hard. The more you pull the rug out from under them, the less able they’ll be to keep their kids stable at home.”

The proposed cuts to the SAP, Student Assistance Program, are “tragic,” according to Nease. SAP programs place counselors in middle and high schools to engage in drug and alcohol counseling with at-risk young people. SAP counselors are “the first line of prevention,” according to Nease. “They are serving kids who are coming from the most challenging family situations.”

Witnesses suggested ways to find revenue for these services, including consolidating the business offices of mental health agencies; a tax on alcohol; and increased income taxes.

Robin Castle of Barre City referred to herself as a “proud Vermonter” and said “I hear Vermonters crying out for economic justice.”

“We have other alternatives to cutting the services people need,” Castle said. “What about the rainy day fund? This seems like a rainy day to me.” Castle continued, “I don’t think it’s correct to assume that all Vermonters are opposed to raising taxes. You can raise my taxes. I ask you not to cut services to families already under stress.”

Steve Ness, Director of Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, noted that his agency is facing a $70,000 cut which would affect the 60-70 parent education and support programs they provide annually throughout Vermont. According to Ness, these cuts would decrease approximately 20 programs statewide.

“We have proven programs to prevent child abuse and neglect,” Ness testified. “We do outcome research and I can tell you, these programs are effective. These programs represent long-term cost savings.”

“First and foremost, we want to protect children and strengthen families first,” Ness said after testifying, “But the economically sensible thing to do is to put money into prevention services.”

Ness said economic downturns put pressure on families, and that poverty and unemployment are contributing factors to child abuse.

Witnesses spoke from all corners of the state, including many from Bennington, St. Albans, and Newport, underscoring the effectiveness of the VIT system for hearing the thoughts of many Vermonters. Several men and women with developmental disabilities, at several sites, spoke of the help they have received, the services afforded to them, their hopes and dreams and the goals they have achieved due to agency help, such as living on one’s own with a roommate.

All witnesses, regardless of disability, were held to the same time limit; even a deaf woman testifying via an ASL interpreter seemed subject to the same tight limit as those speaking independently.

“Family members have exhausted their energy” caring for their aging elders, said Dennis Ross, a case manager with the Central Vermont Council on Aging (CVCOA). “I’m here to acknowledge and honor the family members who are dedicating themselves to helping their family members stay in their home as long as they possibly can,” he said. “I’m here to state emphatically that companion and respite hours are absolutely critical.”

The proposed budget would cut companion and respite hours in half, according to Ross. Someone with dementia who needs companionship to alleviate evening anxiety “doesn’t see companion services as an add-on,” he said. “And families depend on companion and respite cares so they can maintain their sanity and their jobs.”

Ross develops care plans to help elders stay in their homes. A care plan to keep an elder at home costs about $30,000 a year, Ross estimated, noting that nursing home care costs $65-75,000 a year.

On a rainy evening after a snowy couple of weeks, Ross reached for a seasonal analogy.

“These cuts are like taking the carrying beams out of a roof that’s under a heavy snow load,” he said, “and seeing what happens.”