Case Stands with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Community to Restore Funding

HARTFORD – State Representative Jay Case joined fellow House and Senate Republicans on Thursday morning to call on the governor to restore budget cuts that have been made to the Department of Developmental Services (DDS). Republican lawmakers were joined by families from DDS’ Families First who shared personal accounts of what further program cuts mean to their lives.

These cuts will be devastating to DDS clients. Recent budget rescissions to DDS will result in a reduction, to the tune of $3 million, in employment opportunities and day services. Additionally, $1.8 million in community residential funding will disappear along with a decrease of $300,000 for voluntary and behavioral services.

As a result of these cuts, access to programs will be made substantially more difficult for DDS clients. As of September, over 2,000 individuals are on the DDS wait list for the very services the Malloy Administration has cut funding to. The list will only grow larger with a reduction in services.

In his address, Rep. Case, who co-chairs the state’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) Caucus, explained how these cuts affect him personally. The representative went into detail on some of the hardships he has experienced in caring for his brother, who is part of the I/DD community.

“All we are asking is that we allow the legislature to meet as a body to determine how these cuts should be made,” Rep. Case explained in Thursday morning’s press conference. “I believe that cuts are necessary, but we need to come up with a better way to determine where those cuts should be made so we are not eliminating services from a very vulnerable population.”

Republicans have begun the process of filing a petition with Secretary of State’s office to force a Special Session. According to Republican leadership, all 64 members of the caucus are expected to sign the petition, which requires 76 signatures.

###