I used to say this practice — drastic budget cuts balanced on the backs of those who truly need services and support and who are the most vulnerable — was unconscionable.
However, after experiencing this again and again, regardless of Gov. Dannel Malloy, I am also — as a mental health professional — now struggling with my own sense of helplessness as I wonder “How much meat is actually left on the bone?”
I do appreciate that state funding for these services must be carefully evaluated, but turning more and more over to private agencies to save money (and really, how much will this save against the coming tsunami of red ink?) merely transfers the financial burden of these necessary expenses until the private agencies themselves have budget problems, and then they, too, cut services, staffing, salaries, and on and on.
I guess, as usual, the real victims here are those who really are the most dependent and needy, as families and caregivers struggle to find ways to provide the essential services for even the most basic quality of life for their loved ones.
I urge these persons to band together, advocate, seek legal remedy and support, and do whatever they can to make their voices heard.
George Geysen is a Glastonbury psychologist.