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Children Should Not Be Budget Cuts, Minnesota Rallies to Keep Personal Care Assistance

The Arc of Minnesota Steve Larson image

The Arc of Minnesota’s Steve Larson.

Hundreds of advocates descended on the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota to protest a “cuts only” approach to balancing the state budget. Most at stake are ongoing cuts to the state’s personal care assistance (PCA) program. “We have got to really look at what the impact is, not only fiscally, but on human life.”

Pat Mellenthin, Executive Director of The Arc of Minnesota is on the frontlines and urged lawmakers to look beyond the hard numbers.

“The PCA provides in-home care for people with disabilities to live independently,” she said. “I think we’ve got to really look at how we can get better at serving people who have needs – not just cutting for the sake of cutting, which helps no one and oftentimes cost us more in the long run.”

Minnesota’s assessment for eligibility went into effect last year and since then, more than 4,800 individuals had their PCA hours reduced and even eliminated. Come July 2011, stricter eligibility requirements will commence and an additional 2,200 individuals – mostly children – will face the elimination of their PCA support.

For parents of children with special needs in Minnesota, the future is uncertain. Parent Betsy Davis adopted four special needs children and is in the process of adopting two others. Davis was confident and had been assured that her children would receive the services they needed, but last year, her two oldest sons’ PCA hours were cut by half.

Davis anticipates further cuts, saying “They’re taking money away from the most vulnerable children that we have to take care of, and that’s not the place to cut money; that’s not the place to make budgets balance. Children should not be budget cuts.”