The following is a short speech I presented today in front of Advocates for those who have some type of mental or physical disability and those who provide care for them. It was a forum that was held in front of the Advisory Panel for Policy making.
To all it may concern:
In regards to the 3.5% cut in funding to DDS services.
This is an outrage! There could have been other cuts that could have been made, starting with salaries of our elected and appointed officials and representatives. This move is going to be catastrophic to those who receive services and to those who provide those services, most of the employees that work for various agencies receive some type of state assistance for they do not make enough to provide for their families as it is, and those who don't receive any state assistance barely make enough to survive. We do not receive a livable wage as it is. There are many who do this job out of love and compassion for those who need some type of assistance, Do Not take advantage of this Desire to make someone's life better!! To those who receive services this move will take away a quality of life that they and their Families have fought so hard to obtain. This move by our representatives will set us back decades in services. This 3.5% cut is going to have far greater effects than you will not be able to comprehend or refuse to see! We have been fighting for an increase for years and you all know the need! But through your greed and selfishness you refuse to place the money where it truly needs to go! I have been in or around this field for over 14 years! My wife has been providing services to the same individual for all of those 14 years! Many of the people in this field have spent a good part of their life doing the same thing caring for the same person for the length of their career. These people we care for are not just a job they are family! We want to see them get the best quality care they can get with all the services they need so that they can live the most productive full life they can. With you taking away these funds you are robbing them of that life. A big portion of those we care for have lived in an institution of some sort. They fully remember the lives they had then and many fear with the cuts that they will be going back to that life. These People have their own homes many volunteer or have some type of employment to contribute to the community in which they live! With these cuts many will be no longer to contribute to their communities as they have been.
Our employees need to be treated better, they need a raise and not a pay cut which is a good possibility with this cut. Agencies are going to have to find ways to survive and stay afloat with this shortfall.
You that have the power to change this should reconsider this cut and how it is going to affect 1000s of Oklahoma lives! Cut your own salaries/ or other things that do not matter, instead of robbing from those who so desperately depend upon these services. Employees and those who receive services are depending on you to make the right choices. "True character is doing something for someone who can do nothing in return!"
Sincerely Orlando Houston
Support Coordinator @ Central State Community Services of Oklahoma
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