Comments on: Don’t Cut Help for Those With Disabilities http://www.madisoncountycourier.com/oneida-new-york/dont-cut-help-for-those-with-disabilities-7465/ Welcome To The Madison County Courier: Your News. Your Voice. Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:00:48 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Patrick McGrath http://www.madisoncountycourier.com/oneida-new-york/dont-cut-help-for-those-with-disabilities-7465/comment-page-1/#comment-1734 Patrick McGrath Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:11:27 +0000 http://www.madisoncountycourier.com/?p=7465#comment-1734 Ray is spot on with his comments. I operate a program in Rochester, NY that will be affected in the same fashion. One of our member agencies completed a study that projected 10,300 jobs lost due to the 10% cut, and that did not take into consideration the federal dollar match. The majority of jobs that we provide are low-paying, direct care positions. These people are on the margin as it is, so a loss of a job will have the end result of receiving subsidized benefits that the state will shoulder. Our agency prides itself on maintaining a low overhead cost of 11%, and we are striving to reduce it further. Our main expenses for operation are staff salaries and inventory (food for the homes being the largest inventory expense). So, for every dollar that the state invests, it is matched by $1.61. Take out our overhead for operations, and that is $2.33 that goes back out into the community in the form of staff salaries and our agency's spending in the community. We have always been an economic stimulus program! Please do as Ray says and contact Governor Paterson and our reps in the Senate and Assembly. A sister organization has created this website that sums up the position of many providers of service to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities: http://savemyomrdd.org Patrick J. McGrath Executive Director Grace Community Services Rochester, NY Ray is spot on with his comments. I operate a program in Rochester, NY that will be affected in the same fashion. One of our member agencies completed a study that projected 10,300 jobs lost due to the 10% cut, and that did not take into consideration the federal dollar match. The majority of jobs that we provide are low-paying, direct care positions. These people are on the margin as it is, so a loss of a job will have the end result of receiving subsidized benefits that the state will shoulder.

Our agency prides itself on maintaining a low overhead cost of 11%, and we are striving to reduce it further. Our main expenses for operation are staff salaries and inventory (food for the homes being the largest inventory expense). So, for every dollar that the state invests, it is matched by $1.61. Take out our overhead for operations, and that is $2.33 that goes back out into the community in the form of staff salaries and our agency’s spending in the community. We have always been an economic stimulus program!

Please do as Ray says and contact Governor Paterson and our reps in the Senate and Assembly.

A sister organization has created this website that sums up the position of many providers of service to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities:

http://savemyomrdd.org

Patrick J. McGrath
Executive Director
Grace Community Services
Rochester, NY

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