Health Insurance - An Unaccounted-for Workforce Cost
Consequences of Inadequate Funding
The consequences of not providing reasonable funding increases to community service agencies would be the gradual dismantling of our current system of community services, overall, through:
- A reduction in service capacity; and
- An increase in the use of congregate care facilities serving eight or more individuals, as agencies find that smaller residential settings are no longer affordable.
The first of the two Spring 2002 DD Network meetings occurred on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. It's been very disheartening to see the response of some state governments to the economic recession since 9/11. As a Regional Director for Dungarvin, I have responsibility for our program in Delaware. The father of one of the people we serve there works for the Red Cross. While he was busy helping people recover from the attack in New York City in November of last year, he learned about funding cuts that were to be made in 2002 that would affect his son's residential program.
How could we explain to him that the state of Delaware was cutting funding for the services he fought so hard to obtain, at a time when the nation was showing its true colors by being so generous to the people of New York? It just didn't make sense.
The same spirit of generosity shown to the victims of terrorists should be guiding decision-making by state and county governments. It used to be considered the duty of government to increase spending during times of economic recession, to help those affected by the downturn.
