Don’t allow Legislature to slash funds for Ohio’s group homes

Don’t allow Legislature to slash funds for Ohio’s group homes

I’m not sure how I will vote this November if there is a referendum on Senate Bill 5. I know from what I have read in The Vindicator and have learned elsewhere that there are definite excesses when it comes to the compensation of some public employees.

What I am certain about regarding public policy is that proposals on the state (and particularly on the national level) that Republicans have put forward and that have been enacted are shortsighted and a disgrace for those who are supposed to act in the public’s good.

On a personal level, I am worried that Gov. John R. Kasich’s budget would slash funds that help support residents of group homes. Our son resides in such a facility in Youngstown.

With more help from us, our son would probably be able to continue to live at his South Side adult-care facility if the Residential State Supplement were reduced as proposed.

However, would the owner/operator of the facility be able to keep the home open if many of his clients face a cut in RSS and become unable to cover the cost of their room and board? Articles in The Vindicator have pointed out just how tenuous the situation already is at the House of Hope.

Also, if RSS is slashed, some of the group homes that manage to survive are apt to be substandard places with borderline management providing marginal care.

Substandard homes do not provide the atmosphere and services that promote good health and recovery and stave off the need for hospitalizations. Cutting back RSS could lead to actual misery, homelessness, and more illness or chaos in the lives of those served by adult-care facilities.

In its Budget Platform, the Ohio Adult Care Facilities Association notes that Ohio violates the Mental Health Act of 1988 in that funds that were purportedly saved by the closing of state hospitals (including Youngstown’s Woodside) were supposed to go back to the communities to help support the mentally ill. These funds have eroded, and many former state hospital residents have been relegated to our jails, prisons, hospitals, nursing homes and homeless shelters.

The OACFA calls for increasing the number of RSS slots from 1,600 to 3,000 and increasing RSS to $25 per day. Such an increase, the association says, “would not only ensure quality, but would save millions of dollars by eliminating the use of much more expensive alternatives” (such as prisons). I subscribe to its analysis and hope the governor and legislators will take these proposals to heart.

What is obviously needed is close scrutiny of funding priorities. As it has been amply noted in your pages, college professors and administrators are already very well compensated. They would face miniscule declines in their standard of living if funds for higher education were cut.

On the other hand, a reduction in RSS would have a dire effect on those residing in group homes.

ROBERT R. STANGER, Boardman