I was shocked last week when I saw a headline come off of the wire which said, "Indiana parents told to drop disabled kids at shelters". Surely, I couldn't be reading that correctly. There must be more to the story...right? Wrong - apparently that is what has been happening around the state, as Indiana's budget crunch has become so severe that many familes haven't received the Medicaid waivers they need to help pay for services that support disabled people living independently.
There have been no confirmed cases of families dumping servely disabled people at homeless shelters, but according to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Indiana's Bureau of Developmental Disabilities Services has told parents that is one option if they can no longer care for children at home. Some families have been on waiting lists for Medicaid waivers for ten years, while budget cuts have also resulted in the state moving foster children with disabilities to a lower cost program that doesn't provide services for children with special needs. Hundreds of developmentally disabled adults have also had their grocery benefit eliminated under the budget cuts.
Now, I come from a family of teachers. I'm used to hearing them complain how education is under-funded and how many times they buy their own school supplies. I work with people who get public-assistance, so I see first-hand how people no longer have access to basic services such as food, shelter and healthcare. It's sad to say, but I'm used to living in a world that doesn't care to, or can no longer afford to care for it's own. That being said, I was outraged when I read this article! I'm at a loss for words! I just can not believe it!
I'm sure most of you will feel the same way when you read this post. So, my question to you this week is, "Where should Indiana get the money to pay for these services? Should we cut funding from another area, and if so, what"? Budgets can be hard to read and understand, so you can use this link as a guide to Indiana's budget: http://www.agecon.purdue.edu/crd/localgov/Topics/Essays/State_Budget_Outlook.htm
Answers are due no later than Sunday, November 7th, 2010. Polls are open from 6:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. tomorrow, so don't forget to cast your vote before or after class tomorrow!
After looking at the budget, I can see how Indiana has backed itself into a corner. We could try to increase revenue from casinos and such. There have been freezes on pay increases and there are some in the state who could use pay freezes -- such as sports figures who are paid. Jim Irsay's salary cap is over $100 million. We're spending over $30 million to keep the Pacers (and who actually follows the Pacers anymore?).
ReplyDeleteMy mom is a doctor and frequently works with those that are severely disabled (most of the time severely autistic, which goes hand in hand), and I know that their medical costs are through the roof. I can see how families that are trying to support them could be struggling to make ends meet. I fail to see how a homeless shelter will have the resources to pay for these peoples medication and care.
Wow, I too am appalled that dropping disabled people off at a homeless shelter is even an option. I agree with Kelli, that way to much money is spent on gaming, and sports. Sure it brings in revenue for the state, but at what cost, and I'd like to the know the profits being made from the gaming and sports area. I would propose a 5% cut to every sports player and coaching staff that makes 200,000 and above. I thinks its ridicules that we would take such good care of our athletes because they are healthy and entertain us, but leave those who need help the most on the roadside.
ReplyDeleteI dont see how any family would even think about dropping their family members off at a shelter, let alone anyone at all, just because they are disabled and cant take care of them or just dont want that burden. There are many areas that we could cut the funding, like many of the sports figures, campign trails, defense budget and many others that dont need as much of the money that they are given.
ReplyDeletei agree with them how could some one just leave a family member at a shelter. as far as where the money should come from, yes this is coming from a sports fan, get rid of the pacers cut the funding on the indianapolis ice and we should stop building football stadiums and basketball courts. we need to just simply quit spending money that we don't have.
ReplyDeleteI feel just like you right now. I seriously cannot believe that. I understand were in hard times right now but where or who in their right mind would even think that? There are so many different places we could get the money from its ridiculous, but some people rather not think to eliminate these sport shows and imagine the funding going to the colts and the pacers and whatever other team there is representing Indiana. People fail to see the things that are going wrong when the money is going to the wrong place. If that makes any sense or not. That's just how i feel like that is just completely absurd.
ReplyDeleteSarahAshleyArt2 = Sarah Miller
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe that the State of Indiana is literally telling families to take their children to homeless shelters! How is it possible that this country is so eager to help other countries with their problems yet when the citizens of America are crying out for help, simply turn a deaf ear. It makes me feel like America only goes to help other countries so that they will get recognize by the world for the good things they do, when many US citizens are the ones getting the back lash of it.
When looking at the balance of 2008 to 2011 they completely cut out Property Tax Relief from the budget. This allowed the K-12 Education to jump from 37% to 53% financial funding. While Medicaid only received a 1% Increase. Being the child of a Teacher, I have heard a lot of how the schools need more funding, so in a sense I am glad that they have increased this, to get students more involved and excited to go to school to make a better life for themselves in the future. But at the same time my heart goes out to those families who have disabled children and are in desperate need of help. I do not know very much about budgets but from what it looks like they are stretched as to where Indianas money is going. Perhaps the best answer is not to take from another department, but rather start a new organization that can raise money to give directly to those families in need. I work for Susan G Komen and have seen how, when awareness is being presented to people about an issue, many are eager to help. Especially if you are one whom is affected by the issue at hand, whether personally or through family and friends.
Or perhaps, the Education department since have received a higher amount of funding will be more willing to help the disabled children in their school with more than just learning. Children of teachers get health insurance, so maybe we could change it to disabled students of schools with more funding should receive the same health care benefits.
I feel that the increase of funding to k-12 is necessary, but it shouldn't take a 16% increase while Medicaid only increased by 1%. If a small 3% shift from k-12 would make coverage available for most, if not all disabled kids, why hasn't this already been done? I think it could be from persistent pressure to increase school funding. Increased school funding is frequently a topic in the news, while I rarely hear mention of an increase to Medicaid. It simply seems irresponsible that the budget increase is allocated so heavily in one area, allowing for new issues to arise when they could have easily been prevented.
ReplyDeleteI know someone that works for the Indianapolis Building Authority, which basically does maintenance for the government owned buildings. They constantly encounter situations where preventative maintenance is pushed to the side. For example, instead of changing 5 filters costing $50, the boss will decide against it, even being told allowing the equipment to lock up will cost several thousand dollars to fix, the attitude is, "that'll be in next years budget". I think this is exactly the same mentality put towards budgets that affect people lives, and here it's disabled kids. "Put them in the shelter until next years budget" is what I hear.
My opinion is, the government should cut their wages down a few thousand dollars a year. That would help tremendously. We the people, pay for our government officials to live for free, for the most part, in houses that cost 3-4 hundred thousand dollars. I think they should live like us common people while they are in office. They are supposed to be for the poeple. If we are buying their houses for them, then they should live like the people that support them. This would greatly reduce the cost to us in taxes that pay their wages and for their homes. Just because they have a Harvard Law Degree and they chose to work for us, doesn't mean we need to pay for their schooling while they are in office.
ReplyDeleteThe answer to the next question, I think, was answered in the last question, which is (NO), there should not be cuts from one fund to pay for another fund. Make our politicians pay for this seeing how they make 2-3 hundred thousand a year while in office.
I could not imagine a parent just taking there kid and dropping them off becasue they cant take care of them. This is what is wrong with the state and the country. They just keep cutting the costs with the schools and the state ran universties. I think that these are two areas that we would not want to cut because in this day and era we need to have the college degree to have a good paying job. Other thing is why can we not get more money from the casinos here in the state. I agree with some in the class that there are more things to worry than the Indiana Pacers or building the new stadium that will be holding the Super Bowl in 2012. The reason that they are helping pay for these teams to stay here is they are bringing so much money into the city each week that the colts are here, this is a money hungry time that we live in. We could take some of the money that they bring in and use it to help some of these parents that have disabled kids and the shelters, so that they dont need to send them to a place that they are not going to take care of them. One last thing is that we can not take money from the salary caps that the colts have because that is not a state funded money.
ReplyDeleteI just can not wrap my head around being told to leave a family member at a homeless shelter. I think that Indiana has been spending money it doesn't have on sporting venues and players salaries for way to long and has been neglecting the needs of the people. I think we should cut the pay of professional athletes and use that money to help pay for some of the things that Indiana needs.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing this on the news and I was shocked to see their "solution" was to drop disabled people off at homeless shelters. I am surprised that is even a thought! It has been clear for a long time that our budget is out of control with all the school closings, unemployment issues and property tax issues. I have several friends that are teachers and they all talk about how they spend their own money on school supplies. I think they get reimbursed $100 for the whole year! That seems like nothing! It is also crazy to think that medicaid only received a 1% increase. It definitely seems as though there is some money that could be redirected from the sports players (such as Bob Sanders who is receiving millions for nothing) and redirected into medicaid for these families. The politicians could use a pay cut as well. In addition, the IPD has displayed a lot of immaturity so I'm sure there is money that could be dispersed better.
ReplyDeleteMine is pretty much like the others: Cut what is need to be cut that is not that necessary much like sports, games, and such so that everyone can have a fair share. This generation now-a-days just needs to get their priorities straight on what are the things that are important in their lives in my opinion. It's not about the fancy things like fancy material things to make them happy for the rest of their lives, no, it's about making sure you and your family are happy, safe, and secure to live on this planet and by doing that is good ol' fashioned labor. If people can accomplish that, they would be set. (Sorry I know that can be biased in some peoples' cases but I was the kind of person who has been raised sheltered not knowing this kind of stuff most of my life.)
ReplyDeleteI don't know where Indiana can receive the extra funding for medicaid but I noticed that 53% of Indianas' budget is being put into K-12 education. I think there should cut a little bit from that budget and apply it to medicaid to help take care of those kids who need health services. As many has said, taking children to a homeless shelter should not be an option. I don't have a solution, but a homeless shelter cannot provide childcare.
ReplyDeleteOne can't believe love one's would drop off a family member like this. Truly I'm really upset to Indiana as a whole. For one why do we pay for players so much money and if we are doing budget cuts they should be the first to go. Did we need to build a new airport? Taken budget cuts from another revenue is not the answer, it will cause more damage then good. How about we cut governors pay and their people that they employ? Two areas you can't cut are education and medicare. They should be cutting welfare. I have a friend on welfare that only has one child and they receive 3 things of peanut butter a week and so much milk and half of it goes to waste. Some times she has to give it way. Sometimes people take advantage of this system and we as citizens need to change it. People need to do the changing and stand up.
ReplyDeleteWell first off I can not believe this is really happening either! It’s awful! I love how America is all about being the peace maker and entering foreign territories to make the world a better place…but really? Like if were not supporting our own people in the states what does that really say about us as a whole? This budget cut should have never even been an option. I understand why America does what it does with other countries, to form relationships for trade as well as for alliances during times of war. But in my personal opinion we like to push our boundaries. For example we have been overseas fighting this war on terror since I was in 8th grade, I graduate in June. That grand sum of money that has been spent over the last, what 8 years is something to talk about that’s for sure. So only if America made better decisions, then we could all eat.
ReplyDeleteI think that this world that we live in is too materialistic. We should be taking care of our fellow Americans first. I think that we help other countries more than we help the people here. I do believe in common good, and that we are all equal as humans, but for the people that work hard and pay taxes, we would like to see that for common good. I really don't understand why we needed all of the aesthetically pleasing hand painted designs down Keystone Boulevard. I don't understand why celebrities and athletes are paid so well. These people only need a basic amount of money to live their lives. But there are many things that I do not understand. But I could never support or say that I agree that a parent should be asked to drop off their child off at a shelter. Do these people have kids? or any relatives for that matter? It just sends chills down my spine!
ReplyDeleteI think that this is the most absurd thing I have heard about in a long time. Not only is our whole country out of wack on priorities, but most states are exactly the same way. I believe that if couples are going to have children, no matter what through thick and thin they should not pawn them off on someone else. These children didn't ask to be in this world they are made by us. So it is crazy to me how people can think that it is okay to tell people this is something they should be a part of. I think that Indiana needs to stop spending money on building new sports stadiums, funding all this road rebuilding(whats wrong with the roads we have?), and most of all what athletes are getting paid for a hour or two of entertainment. I think that we need to be spending our budget more of healthcare for the people that need it. These disabled children deserve to have good lives and not be put to the way side because certain people view them as an inconvenience.
ReplyDeleteDropping a family member off at a homeless shelter just because you can't take care of them doesn't seem like a solution to anything. But I do see how it could be the only option for some of the poorer people in Indiana. Some people don't have the money to take care of themselves, let alone another person who may need medical care, which costs lots of money with no medical insurance. I don't really know where the money could come from for these services. I agree with the consesus of the class that the sports venues and atheletes could spare to take pay cuts. That would help tremendously. There aren't many other areas to cut funding from with the economy in as bad of shape as it is.
ReplyDeleteI think Indiana should get money for those services by taxing more on cigarettes and alcohol and casinos, and they should cut down funding on some sports and get more money from the politicians to help the disable and homeless people.
ReplyDeleteI don't really know exactly what to cut out of the budget. But I do know that Indiana needs to start cutting some of the things that need to be cut. I really don't understand why we need more theaters, sport facilities or what not. I don't understand what was wrong with the old ones. I think that they need to stop cutting education and hospitals and medicate. I that it is wrong to be able to just drop your child off at a shelter.
ReplyDeleteI find that very shocking, but at the same tim enot hard to believe. Our society is so focused on the unimportant things in our culture we miss what needs help. We have movies about people who overcome disabilities making millions of dollars, yet people with disabilities can hardly afford to survive.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time reading this budget. But I believe that our celebrities should have to help kick in. I've seen on the TV sports athletes making 64 million dollars a year. Does that sound like an amount of money anyone person deserves? Yes I believe they should be able to live in high confort for their hard work, but there has to be some way better for that money to go to use.
Okay, first off, I will not lie I opened the link to see the guide to Indiana's Budget, and was a bit overwhelmed. However, from what I do know, these programs seem to be very important not only to the state of Indiana but to the rest of the country as well. As far as in the state of Indiana, I think we should focus on what is absolutely necessary to our state (these programs in particular). Everything else that is not mandatory for the well-being of others should not be considered a priority for spending.
ReplyDeleteBy looking at the table i guess they can cut 3-8% out the 53% that is giving to the K-12 to help medicaid and health and social services!!
ReplyDeleteAnd about people dropping children on shelters, i think that is inhuman of them leaving kids on homeless shelters. every body pass thru rough time some times, but it doesn't mean you will drop your kid like a sick dog in the street.
I think taxing casinos, cigarettes and alcohol would be the best way to go. Its something people still spend their money on no matter what our economy is going through. Its an addiction.
ReplyDeleteIts sad that people in the US have come to dropping their children off at homeless shelters. I would never be able to do that if I were in their position, but I understand that taking care of these kids is super expensive and my aunt has 2 children with sever mental disabilities so I know the amount of money that has to go into them and with our economy its that much harder. Im not saying what these people are doing is right, but I understand where they are coming from.
- Chris Johnson
ReplyDeleteI was actually going to make the same statement as Ashlee Pinney regarding casinos, smoking and alcohol. It is quite disturbing to read a headline like that, but when it comes to making decisions about budget cuts, I wouldn't even know where to begin.
Wow... That is the first thought that came to my mind after reading this article. I don't even see how the decision to just cast someone out is rationalize in anyones mind, be it the family or even our government. I agree with the tax on alcohol, cigarettes and casinos. I also agree with the idea of taking money from sports, its hard to rationalize the building of new elaborate sports arenas when helpless people are "nowhere in the budget"
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why this would happen. Casting someone out will not help. I don't also understand why we take moeny out of class? Why not from sports or ther stuff that school seems to focus on too much. We spend money on wide TVs in school, yet we suffer from books and cuts on teachers, cuting the class? What is wrong with that picture?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kelli Rosebrock on the Pacers situation, but getting rid of them seems to me like its not going to happen. Though I don't have a good layout on what to do with the budget, I don't understand why we go out of our way to build stadiums and renovate them if we are financially in trouble prior to building them. I also don't see how dropping disabled people off at shelters is going to save anything, it's sort of like Bush firing us up after 9/11 then years later, people asking "OK, now what?".
ReplyDeleteWoah. I was pretty overwhelmed looking at our budget. It seems like far too much is going to places where it isn't needed. Like a few others, I would like to see the taxes from casinos, cigarettes and alcohol to go to places like this where it's needed.
ReplyDeleteAmazing, just when things already seem sureal enough. We are by far the richest country in the world, yet those who most need help in this country are often neglected or just plain forgotten. We subsidize sporting venues with tax-payer money, while these obscenly rich owners share none of the profits. While not a state but a federal budget issue, defense spending is ridiculous. We spend more on defense than the next 20 countries put together, almost all of whom are our allies. Our schools are failing childeren and people are being told to drop off developmentally challenged people at shelters. How did our priorities get so skewed?
ReplyDeleteI do not by any means agree with dropping them off at a shelter, but I am also able to take into consideration how challenging it is to take care of someone with special needs. I don't know what I would have done if put in the situation, but I definitely would not have taken my child into a shelter for a stranger to take care of them. I know that funding is slim, but there has to be one of Mitch's grand ideas that would budget enough money to help the situation. I would love to think that with the looming "leave no child behind" act, that someone could think of a good solution.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the most rediculous things that budget cuts has brought about. I have two severely autistic cousins, and if they were not in such a stable home, I know that the rest of my family would not waste a second to help them. There is so much unnecessary crap taking up funding that poeple don't actually matter anymore.
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