From the Chicago Tribune:

Illinois ranks dead last among the states in funding community-based services for people with special needs, writes Kristin MacRae. Yet Gov. Rod Blagojevich has proposed an additional $61 million in new budget cuts for services to people with developmental disabilities.

These cuts seem beyond callous; these cuts seem cruel. By cutting the availability of housing and job training for adults with developmental disabilities they will destroy many an individual’s opportunity to live a normal life.

Gov. Blagojevich, there are some cuts so deep they cannot heal. Every penny in your $61 million of proposed budget reductions erodes an infrastructure of community-based services that is already gravely compromised. Make no mistake, your cuts will trigger a major ripple effect within Illinois communities because you are removing the precise supports that strengthen all families — jobs and housing.

Kristin MacRae is president/CEO of CARC, a social service agency supporting more than 1,500 children  and adults with developmental disabilities throughout Chicago.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 12th, 2008 at 10:25 am and is filed under budget, employment/jobs, housing, independent living, politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.