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Stress Free' Doesn't Apply To Disabled
The Capital Times :: EDITORIAL :: 9A
Saturday, June 26, 2004
Richard C. Berling executive director MARC
Dear Editor: It is with some astonishment that I read that Madison (and perhaps by extension Dane County) earned an A+ "stress free" rating to bolster its no. 1 city rating.
Certainly the greater Madison area is not stress free for people with disabilities, and provider agencies and their employees. The long decline in Dane County funding to purchase services for people with developmental disabilities has been exacerbated by the onerous 4.2 percent 2004 cuts imposed by Dane County.
The effects of these cuts include no raises for underpaid staff, increased turnover and the interruption of vital trusting relationships between staff and consumers, the reduction of staff positions and increased workloads, and, finally, the very real fear of loss of health insurance.
Why is it that the least among us are bearing the brunt of the budget cuts? Why is Dane County considering cutting developmental disability services another 3 percent in 2005? How much stress are people with developmental disabilities and their support staff supposed to accept? And where is the money going that is being taken away?
Maybe we all don't want to know the answers to these questions -- after all, it might cause more stress, and we surely don't want that.
