Today, Concerned Californians Kick-off Statewide Forums to Address the Governor's Direct Assualt on Care for Seniors and People with Disabilities

2008-06-12 23:40:37 -

- Today, seniors, people with disabilities, their families and caregivers joined with concerned and activist Californians to kick-off statewide forums denouncing Governor Schwarzenegger's proposed cuts to programs that serve the elderly and disabled. In the community forums scheduled to take place in Counties throughout the state over the next few weeks, residents will speak out against the cuts to Supplemental Security Income/State Supplemental Payment (SSI/SSP) grants and In-Home Supportive Services (homecare). A few of the participating counties include Kern, Tulare, Butte, Orange, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Merced, and Santa Barbara.

"The Governor's May Revise not only robs seniors and people with disabilities of the money they need to pay for basic living expenses, but it also denies them the care they need to live safely and independently in their own homes," says Frank Smith, a Butte County resident with disabilities. "It's appalling to consider the Governor's willingness to sacrifice the health and well-being of the elderly and disabled in an attempt to balance the state budget."

SSI/SSP Cuts

The Governor's budget delays, suspends and/or withholds some cost-of-living adjustments on Supplemental Security Income/State Supplemental Payment (SSI/SSP) grants that help low-income seniors and people with disabilities meet basic living expenses. This eliminates hundreds of millions of dollars to one million vulnerable Californians.

In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) Cuts

Proposal to Cut Care Hours

In this proposal, low-income seniors and people with disabilities, who are deemed by social workers to need limited assistance with domestic services assistance--meal preparation and clean-up, housekeeping, grocery shopping, laundry, and errands--will no longer receive any help with those services. This proposal means that more than 80,000 seniors and people with disabilities will be left vulnerable to malnourishment, illness, or injury, which ultimately could force them into a hospital, nursing home, or institution.

While the proposed cuts are portrayed as cost savers, the truth is that hospital and nursing home care for IHSS consumers will cost the state far more than what the proper allocation of IHSS services would have. Per the California Budget Project's report on the cuts, the Legislative Analyst's Office has estimated that the state spends an average of $10,000 per IHSS consumer versus $60,000 a year for each nursing home resident.

Proposal to Cut Homecare Provider Pay

The budget proposal also calls for rolling back state participation in funding homecare providers' wages, contributing funding only up to minimum wage. Until and unless financially strapped counties pick up the difference, wages will effectively be no higher than minimum wage. If homecare providers are relegated to minimum wage status, then it's likely that thousands of these caregivers will be forced to leave the homecare workforce, leaving countless elderly and disabled without the care they need to continue living in their own homes.

The proposed IHSS cuts turn back the clock on landmark legislation, Aging with Dignity Act, which was enacted in 1999 to help seniors stay in their own homes instead of being forced into institutions. -0- Thursday, June 12 Butte County Holiday Inn 685 Manzanita Court Chico, CA 95926 7:00pm- 9:00pm Thursday, June 12 Tulare County Holiday Inn 9000 West Airport Drive Visalia, CA 93277 6:00pm- 8:00pm Friday, June 13 San Luis Obispo County Ramona Garden Park 933 Ramona Dr. Grover Beach, CA 12pm- 2pm Wednesday - June 18, 2008 Santa Barbara County Westside Community Center (Auditorium) 423 Victoria Ave. Santa Barbara, CA 93101 1:30 - 4:30 Thursday, June 19 Merced County Area Agency on Aging 851 West 23rd Street Merced, CA 95340 5:00pm- 7pm Friday, June 20 San Diego County Metro Center 3910 University Avenue San Diego, CA 92105 5:30pm-7:30pm Friday, June 20th, 2008 Los Angeles County Pitzer College Broad Performance Space 1050 N. Mills Ave. Claremont, CA 91711 11am - 1pm

for Quality Home Care Coalition
Scott Mann, 323-333-4850