Disparities top concern at first-ever joint budget forum

TOPEKA, June 26 – People in need should have equal access to home and community based services.

People with developmental disabilities shouldn’t have to spend months and years waiting for services while in-home services for the frail elderly can be arranged within a few days or weeks.

Home and community based programs for the physically and developmentally disabled are woefully underfunded and cannot afford to expand.

Those were sentiments expressed Thursday during a budget hearing hosted by the state Department on Aging and the Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. It was the first time state agencies have held a joint budget hearing.

“We need to work together, to make sure our policies and our procedures align with one another,” said SRS Secretary Don Jordan, explain the meeting’s purpose.

About 100 people – a mix of advocates, program directors and SRS and KDoA staff – attended the hour-long meeting at the SRS Learning Center. Twelve people presented testimony, either in person or via speakerphone.

Other concerns raised during the meeting:

Hospitals too often discharge elderly patients to nursing homes rather than working with programs that provide in-home services.
Though many of the state’s nursing homes are ready and willing to provide home and community based services for the elderly and the disabled, they have been pigeonholed into providing institutional care.
“We’d like to see a task force formed to help these facilities right-size and convert to more-person-centered care,” said Debra Zehr, executive director for the Kansas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging.
There’s a dire need for mental health services designed for the elderly.“This is probably the biggest unmet need for the senior population right now,” said Kansas Area Agencies on Aging Association Executive Director Craig Kaberline.

Jordan and KDoA Secretary Kathy Greenlee thanked the speakers for their input but warned that anticipated state revenue shortfalls are sure to affect agency budgets when they are decided by the 2009 Legislature.

“We’re heading into a really tough time,” Jordan said.

Greenlee and Jordan said their staffs would confer before assembling their respective budgets.

-Dave Ranney is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. He can be reached at dranney@khi.org or at 785-233-5443, ext. 128.