Social-service workers, clients rally to decry funding cuts
Dozens of social-service workers and their clients rallied in Orlando on Friday to warn of "Draconian" legislative cuts targeting state-funded programs for mental health, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, foster children and those with disabilities.
Led by Orlando Democrat Dick Batchelor, who served eight years in the state House of Representatives, a series of speakers decried what they said was a cut-now, pay-later approach to closing the nearly $4 billion gap in Florida's budget.
"There is no better instrument for economic development than to provide a service to someone that puts them back to work," said Candice Crawford, president and CEO of the nonprofit Mental Health Association of Central Florida. "And we are putting people back to work every day with the little bit of resources we have. Once those are cut, we have a real problem."
Though the House budget recommends restoring $37 million in general-revenue funding to adult mental-health services — money that was temporarily shifted last year — the Senate is proposing a $121 million cut. Such a move would eliminate inpatient, outpatient and medication programs offered through community mental-health centers, leaving only crisis stabilization units for those who draw the attention of law enforcement, critics said.
But state Sen. David Simmons, an Altamonte Springs Republican, said the protests were premature and one-sided.
"In a very tough budget year, I think the state is doing remarkably well, given the circumstances," said Simmons, who serves on the budget committee. "We have essentially level-funded education, and in this economic climate this is a tremendous feat. You do have to prioritize when you have limited funds."
Further, he said, the budget is still a work in progress.
"It's too early for anyone to run around and say the sky is falling. There will be negotiations," he added.
But those attending Friday's event said waiting until the process concludes is too late.
"A week and a half ago, I had the privilege of giving my two minutes [of testimony] to the health and human-services subcommittee of the Senate," said Joe Mendoza, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness for Orange and Seminole counties. "They have never budged. … It still says we're going to lose $121 million — which would be a total de-funding of community mental-health services. That will be a disaster."
Those programs help keep people out of jails and emergency rooms, where they will not receive the ongoing treatment that would return them to productive members of society, Mendoza said. Then he offered himself as an example.
"Mental health isn't just about those people out there. I am a person who lives with a mental-health issue," he said. "I was so deep in depression at the end of 2007 that I attempted suicide. And I came out of that. Recovery is possible."
His words gave hope to Kimberly Landsverk, a 47-year-old Orlando woman who spent the past four years homeless after escaping a violent marriage. Now, she is part of a substance-abuse-recovery program run by the Coalition for the Homeless — a program whose funding also may be at risk.
"I know without this program, I would be in prison or dead," she said.
Several speakers at the rally used the event to express outrage over emergency cuts made by Florida Gov. Rick Scott to programs for those with developmental disabilities. The cuts, which came without warning, took effect Friday.
"I've been in a [wheel] chair for over 23 years, so I understand the importance of having caregivers at your home," said John Kirchner, who began his own business, A-Plus Home Aid, nine years ago. "When you make cuts like this, you're not just affecting a budget, trying to save money; you're affecting the quality of these people's lives.
"It's very surprising to me that someone who has been involved in health care can so easily make a decision that is hurting so many people. The governor needs to come and see what someone actually goes through each and every morning just to get started."
But the governor's communications director, Brian Burgess, said the outcry is misplaced. The emergency cuts ordered through the state Agency for Persons with Disabilities come after years of overspending, class-action lawsuits against the department and a waiting list for those needing services that runs more than 19,000 deep.
He called Scott "the one person with the courage to actually fix the problem."