From the Boston Globe:

A “fierce backlash” is brewing in Massachusetts over social services budget cuts imposed by Gov. Deval Patrick, with advocates for blind and mentally ill people planning demonstrations. Patrick has announced 1,000 layoffs and $1 billion in budget cuts and spending controls.

“I’ve been doing this work for 40 years, and these are the most dramatic cuts I’ve seen to people with mental disabilities,” said Stan Connors, president of Bay Cove Human Services, which serves about 14,000 people with mental health disabilities such as schizophrenia, chronic depression, and bipolar disorder. Bay Cove is losing about $3.5 million annually from a $63 million budget, and will lay off 40 of its 1,400-member staff. It estimates the cut will prevent it from serving about 760 people.

“This is really breathtaking,” said Connors. “Frankly, many of these people will end up in the hospital. Some will end up incarcerated, and, I believe, some will die.”

(Globe photo. Jim Agostinelli and Barbara Drew, who are blind, are losing their jobs because of state cuts.)

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 18th, 2008 at 8:52 am and is filed under blindness/visual impairments, budget, mental health. 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.