Social Services Groups Press Va. for More Funds

An advocate for the mentally retarded prefaced her plea for more state money yesterday with an unusual request: She asked the audience at the public hearing to give the Virginia General Assembly a standing ovation.

"For the first time, people with disabilities have been made a priority in Virginia," said Karen May, director of advocacy for the ARC of Northern Virginia. She applauded the allotment of funds for 860 new Medicaid waivers that enable mentally disabled people to receive services at home or in small group settings.

She also hailed the budget proposed by Gov. Mark R. Warner (D), which calls for a $460 million increase in funding for community-based services and an overhaul of the network of aging hospitals and training centers that serve mentally ill and disabled people. But when the cheers died down, May, who was joined by two Northern Virginia Community College students with cerebral palsy who were in wheelchairs, said the three of them had a few more things on their wish list.

Their appeals joined a chorus of requests from dozens of other social services advocates who appeared before a panel of lawmakers to comment on the governor's proposed budget for the two years starting in July.

The hearing at the Annandale campus of NVCC was one of five held across the state to allow Virginians to make their requests before the 2006 General Assembly convenes Wednesday.

Among the 70 people signed up to speak in the half-full auditorium during the midday meeting was Lynne Crammer of the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, who said the waiting list for substance abuse programs in Fairfax County had climbed to more than 800 people, meaning a sometimes four-month delay for services.

"Waiting lists are dangerous and from a community perspective, intolerable," Crammer said.

Students and administrators from the area's colleges and universities asked for money for better research facilities; a lawyer from the Virginia Bar Association asked for more public defenders; and a representative from the Virginia chapter of the AARP requested more funding for the long-term care of people older than 65, a population that is expected to nearly double by 2020.

The ARC advocates asked the lawmakers to consider in the next session not only the disabled but also their professional caregivers, particularly those who live in expensive Northern Virginia communities but who make the same amount as those in more affordable regions of the state.

Eva Jones, a certified care attendant who works with people with cerebral palsy, said she barely makes enough to pay her mortgage and car payments while raising five children.

"The rest of my bills I pay as I can. I have $150 in savings and no financial security. I can retire when I am 82," she said.

Another advocate for the disabled sought funding for services for the nearly 150,000 residents who have traumatic brain injuries.

Matt Brooker, who has been disabled since he was hit by a car 22 years ago, leaned on a cane as he described the gaps in services for people who, because of strokes or other neurological damage, need physical therapy and sometimes round-the-clock care.

Lawmakers said they will consider the public comments when the session begins.