Pennsylvania Governor’s FY 2003 Budget Plan Would Slow Spending Increases on Services for Mentally Retarded

Pennsylvania advocates for people with mental retardation are "displeased" with Gov. Mark Schweiker's (R) fiscal year 2003 budget proposal because it "comes up short" of a plan to increase services outlined by former Gov. Tom Ridge (R) two years ago, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. In February 2000, Ridge unveiled a five-year, $853 million plan to reduce a list of approximately 14,000 people with mental retardation who were waiting for health services. In fiscal years 2001 and 2002, the state increased funding by 13% to 14% and created 1,500 more slots in residential group homes and 3,300 more placements for nonresidential services. But according to the latest tallies, taken in April, an estimated 21,379 people are now waiting for services, an increase of about 50% since Ridge announced the expansion effort. The waiting list grew in part because the increased funding over the last two fiscal years encouraged more families to apply for services, officials said. Because of "budget realities," Schweiker has proposed a plan that would increase spending on mental retardation services by only 6% in fiscal year 2003 and move about 350 people on the waiting list into group homes and fund nonresidential services for an additional 808 people. But advocates said the funding levels should adhere to Ridge's original plan, "regardless of shifts in the economy," the Post-Gazette reports. Kevin Casey, executive director of Pennsylvania Protection and Advocacy Inc., an advocacy group for the disabled, said, "There's no question that Pennsylvania is doing more than other states. The problem is that people continue to wait for services, and it looks like this budget doesn't live up to [Ridge's] commitment." He added, "I think families took that as a promise, and expect the promise to be lived up to." But Nancy Thaler, deputy welfare secretary for mental retardation, said that the 6% increase is "significant," given the decline in state revenues. Thaler said, "If you balance this growth against the rest of the budget and what's happening in other states, no one can say this is not an attempt to live up to the commitment to (expand services to) the maximum extent possible" (Rotstein, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3/3).