Freedoms at Risk!by Jim Kester, President of the TCADD board of directorsA memo Governor Davis sent on November 14 to all state agency secretaries anddepartment directors says, “As you know, California is facing the steepestdecline in state income in more than half a century . . . .”

Governor Davis has also “. . . directed each department and agency tofreeze new hiring, cut operating expenses by $150 million, and prepare 15percent budget reductions for the 2002-03 fiscal year.”

These cuts will affect thousands of real people in California, including morethan 8,000 people with developmental disabilities served by Tri-Counties RegionalCenter — this includes you and your family as well as my own.

My son David, 48 years old, spent 31 years institutionalized in a state-rundevelopmental center. He currently lives successfully in the community where heis building new relationships and receiving great care, yet the supports he needs tokeep him in his home are in jeopardy because of the budget crisis.

It is important that we are aware of actions our Governor has taken to deal withthis crisis, what has happened in previous years during a budget crisis, and what wecan do to help to protect supports for people with developmental disabilities andtheir families.

Emergency Session of the LegislatureTo deal with the current budget crisis, the Governor has called an emergency session of the State Legislature in January. This has frightening possibilities for us.

What has happened in the Past during a Budget Crisis? •1983 — The Governor called a special session of the legislature that

passed a bill (40X) leaving us with little more than beds, meals, and day programs.

•1992 — Emergency legislation permitted the state to cut funding for services. Regional centers were forced to say “no” to people needing support to live in their community, and to families who needed services for their children.

Since 1992, the funding for community supports has not kept up withincreased costs, and we have never recovered from the last recession. What’smore, with California’s current recession, our situation will get worse if we don’ttake steps to educate our legislators and provide them with a solution.

“These cuts will affect

thousands of real people

in California, including

more than 8,000 people

with developmental

disabilities served by

Tri-Counties Regional

Center — this includes

you and your family as

well as my own.” —Jim Kester

BUDGET CRISIS I M P O R T A N T I N F O R M A T I O N F O R Y O U

Tri-CountiesRegional Center

Newsletter

December 2001

Continued on page 2 . . .

A Tri-LineSpecial Edition

The SolutionWe can help our legislators understand

We must take this seriously — we need to helpour legislators understand the trouble we werealready in before the current budget crisis. The developmental services system is dividedinto two very unequal parts: • In the community, service agencies are closing their doors because they can’t afford tostay in business and can’t pay staff enough.People living in the community can’t tolerateany budget cuts.• The five state-run developmental centers,

employ thousands of highly trained staff, are old and decaying, and some-times do not meet standards of health and safety, costing California millionsof dollars. To bring the developmental centers up to code could cost over $1.5 billion.

Just look at the graphs below to appreciate the enormous sums of moneyspent to maintain people in the decaying state-run developmental centers.

Assembly Bill 896In April, the California Assembly passed Assembly Bill 896 (Aroner) to

address the under-funding of services in the community. Assembly Bill 896 calls for a creative use of resources already in our system,

including money and land held by the state-run developmental centers. The legislature must adopt the principles of AB 896 at its emergency

session of the legislature in January. AB 896 can save California hundreds ofmillions of dollars each year!

Where do people live?

170,000Californians

with developmental

disabilitiesliving in the

community

3,700Californians

with developmental

disabilitiesin the

state-rundevelopmental

centers.

What does it cost?

$12,000average annual

cost of servicefor people with developmental

disabilitiesliving in the

community

$163,000average annual

cost of servicefor people with developmental

disabilities in the

state-rundevelopmental

centers.

We are NOTCrying WolfUnless people with

developmental disabilities,

their families, service

providers, and friends

make the long-standing

crisis clear to the

legislature, our community

service system will suffer

significant cuts, programs

will close and the lives of

people with developmental

disabilities will be

seriously altered.

Stephen Dayrecalls therecession of the 90's andhow it impactedthe lives of

people with developmental disabilities . . .

“Some people weren’t able togo to work, and had to stayhome in bed because they didnot have in-home services. We held sit-in’s in Legislatorsoffices all up and down thestate, and as the 5:00 o’clockhour grew nearer, the legislativestaff were becoming concerned because we weren't leaving.”

AssemblymembersDistrict 33

Abel Maldonado1302 Marsh StreetSan Luis Obispo, CA 93401(805) 549-3381(805) 549-3400 Fax

District 35

Hannah-Beth Jackson101 W. Anapamu St., Ste ASanta Barbara, CA 93101(805) 564-1649(805) 564-1651 Fax

District 37

Tony Strickland221 East Daily Dr., Suite 7Camarillo, CA 93010(805) 987-5195(805) 484-0853 Fax

District 38

Keith Richman, M.D.10727 White Oak, Suite 124Granada Hills, CA 91344(818) 368-3838(818) 885-3307 Fax

SenatorsDistrict 18

Jack O’Connell228 W. Carrillo St., Ste F, Santa Barbara, CA 93101(805) 966-2296 (805) 966-3707 Fax

District 19

Tom McClintock 223 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd,Ste 326Thousand Oaks, CA 91360(805) 494-8808(805) 494-8812 Fax

What You Can Do Today!Write a letter or postcard, send a fax, or call the Governor andyour legislators.

Tell them: • Support principles of AB 896 (Aroner)• How supports and services in the community benefit your life and the

community itself • That the system is already so under funded that it cannot stand

further cuts • That the state of California can use its State employees currently in the state-

run hospitals much more effectively and efficiently to serve Californians withdevelopmental disabilities in their home communities.

To become part of the TCADD legislative e-mail tree, e-mail Karen Miller at kmiller@Tri-Counties.org

“Your community faces enormous challenges on virtually a daily basis. The economic slowdown further threatenscritically important programs thus jeopardizing vital services. I will continue the fight to protect these servicesand advocate for a strong and viable community-basedsystem of care.”

— ASSEMBLYMEMBER HANNAH-BETH JACKSON

Dear Governor Davis,

People with developmental disabilities and their families are very concernedabout the current budget crisis in California. Before the crisis, California’sDevelopmental Services system was falling apart — it can’t tolerate budget cuts!

We’ve already developed a solution to put our resources where they will do themost good and avoid further cuts to community services. In April, theCalifornia Assembly passed Assembly Bill 896 (Aroner), which addresses theunder-funding of our community services by using current resources to create astrong community based system.

Please don’t put our homes and services in jeopardy!

Mail your recommendations today!

Tri-Counties Associationfor the Developmentally Disabled520 E. Montecito Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93103

NONPROFIT ORG.U.S. Postage

PAIDSanta Barbara

CA 93101

Permit No 359

Three Easy Stepsto Wake Up the Governor

1. Sign your name, and add acomment to the postcard.

2. Fill in your address on the three lines providedabove the Governor’saddress.

3. Put a 20¢ stamp on thepostcard and mail it. ORbring the postcard to yourservice provider, and theywill help you mail it.

Governor Gray DavisState Capitol BuildingSacramento, CA 95814

Budget Cuts! Don’t Wait — Act Now!

“Our community system was squeezed by budget cuts in the early 1990's and has yet to

fully recover. Further cuts now will force more people into nursing facilities or the

state developmental centers. In the long run, that will lead to much higher costs for

the state, and many fewer choices for consumers. It’s time to be realistic aboutwhat it takes to run a strong community-based system and put our resourceswhere they are truly needed.” — Assemblymember Dion Aroner

Author Assembly Bill 896