The amount of money the state will be forced to cut services for developmentally disabled people is shrinking, meaning the impact on what some call “Maine’s most vulnerable population” will be less severe than initially expected.
Officials with the Department of Health and Human Services alerted the Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs Oct. 13 that it needed to cut $50 million in services that directly affect the quality of life for adults with cognitive disabilities. The program in question provides help with living tasks ranging from shopping to bathing. Two-thirds of the funding comes from federal matching dollars.
As the department has examined the problem, it has revealed it is not as bad as it looked at first, but there is still a budget problem that needs to be addressed, said Jane Gallivan, director of the Office of Adults with Cognitive and Physical Disability Services.
“The department is continuing to work to identify what’s going on,” Gallivan said. “It’s going to be less than a $50 million shortfall, but it still is going to be a significant number. But the picture is not quite as grim as it was.”
Neil Meltzer, vice president of the Maine Association for Community Service Providers, welcomed the development, which he learned of Thursday during a conference call with Gallivan and others.
“It’s good news for the people we serve and the taxpayers of the state of Maine,” he said. “This appears to be moving in a better direction.”
Gallivan said the impetus of the funding shortage proves elusive to identify as claims continue to trickle in, but that part of the problem might be that some services performed in the last fiscal year are being billed in this one. Meltzer said a change in the formula used to compute funding, which took effect in January, might also be partially to blame.
Gallivan said some of the cost-cutting measures presented to the Appropriations Committee, which included capping enrollments in the 2860-person program as of Nov. 1 and an across-the-board funding cut of 7 percent, might be softened in light of the new information. But she said it’s premature to guess how those recommendations might change. Another meeting between the department and service providers is scheduled for Nov. 3.
“It was our responsibility to bring to the Legislature that we have a problem,” she said. “We’re working collaboratively (with service providers) to take some immediate steps.”
(Statehouse News Service)
