(Full articles at the links)
Plan to Limit Aid Alarms Advocates For Disabled in California
By Alexa H. Bluth for the Sacramento Bee.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/7863657p-8803833c.html
Advocates for the disabled are calling it an ominous sign that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed the first-ever suspension of a 35-year-old state law designed to protect services for the state’s disabled residents and their caretakers.
Schwarzenegger made the suggestion as part of a sweeping package of midyear budget cuts to help shrink a multibillion-dollar deficit. Program supporters and their families, who plan to rally at the Capitol on Wednesday, say the cuts would create long waiting lists for services and devastate those caring for disabled relatives in their homes.
Fee Likely For Care of Kids With Disabilities in NJ
State fiscal woes spur end to free services. New Jersey follows California.
By Susan K. Livio, The Star-Ledger, New Jersey.
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1070260202214470.xml
New Jersey is planning to charge a monthly fee next year for what used to be a free therapeutic service to infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities.
The proposal would end a 30-year policy of providing most children up to age 3 with two free hours of in-home care for physical, speech and other disabilities. Families instead would be charged a monthly fee based on their income. The state hopes to raise a minimum of $7 million a year from the fees.