Niki Kelly, writing for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, has an article entitled Living centers, state agency in money melee. Apparently the State budgeted a 6,000% increase for “centers that help people with severe disabilities in about 50 counties to remain participating members in their communities through peer support, service referrals, independent living skills training, mobility assistance and public education.” The State increased its part of the funding from $41,000 to $2.5 million. I suspect this reflects an understanding by legislators that this model is better for the individual and ultimately probably cheaper than models where the individual basically gets walled off from the community.
Trouble is, FSSA refuses to release the money. According to the folks at the independent living centers, the State keeps moving the goal posts on the kind of paperwork it needs before it will release the money.
According to the letter, the state issued a solicitation for proposals for the new funding on June 4 and each center submitted individual proposals for the funds allocated by the General Assembly.
In July, they were asked for a specific spending plan with measurable outcomes.
After much confusion, the final documents were turned in Aug. 31.
The centers became concerned that the process would not be finished by Oct. 1 – when the state-funded centers would run out of money – so the state extended the contract for three months using the old funding levels.
Discussions have continued back and forth, according to the letter, with FSSA always asking for additional data.
“We have complied with every request the state has made. We have developed proposals to meet their stated requirements only to be told that they have come up with more requirements and need more information. We have provided this additional information,†the letter said. “We have developed (in collaboration with state staff members) clear outcomes that we will achieve.
“No one will tell us where the actual hold up is and, if it is true that they need more information, no one at the state is able to tell us what it is they want.â€
This is oddly similar to what we have seen in some circumstances in struggles local governments have had getting their budgets approved by the Department of Local Government Finance — delays related to new demands for information by the State. And, given the past behavior of the Daniels administration, you can’t even be sure their withholding is legal. Perhaps they just think their demands for information are good ideas and, legal or not, they’ll do what they want and hope the legislature retroactively legalizes their actions.
From what I’ve heard, the state wants to shut these Independent Living Centers down. I’m not sure why this administration seems to go after the defenseless so often in its budget cutting, but I guess they feel that the disabled is a small constituency that doesn’t matter.
didnt the Nazis do something similar? “Ve cant ufford to kare for ur poor, disabled, insane, vetarded, und so on- ze are a strain on our budget. zerefroe, ve shal find sum solution for this problem, and eliminate it?”
Only the fit shall live?
never again.. what a joke. only theres nothing funny about this tragedy, and travesty. makes a mockery of American family values. Jesus was a socialist.