Update on Washtenaw County programs and other budget news

Donna Sabourin, the Director of Community Supports and Treatment Services, attended the last Friends of the Developmentally Disabled meeting on September 24th, 2009 and was able to give us an update on CSTS vocational services to people with DD.

Without knowing how much the Washtenaw Community Health Organization will be getting from state general funds, the WCHO granted an extension of the contract with CSTS for 90 days. Some cuts to CSTS were made final by the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, but these cuts did not affect vocational and skill-building services.

According to Donna, the WCHO would like CSTS to continue providing vocational services and to take in two other programs that were contracted to other providers. A work skills program that has provided supported employment services to one group of consumers for 10 years would go to CSTS along with a program for another group of consumers that has has had three providers in 5 years. By taking in these two programs, there will be less choice in providers for employment programs, but it will give the second group of consumers more stability. CSTS has also said that the agency can provide these services without increasing staffing, saving money for the WHCO.

At the time of the Friends meeting, Donna said that a tentative agreement on concessions from the employees union had been reached. According to Annarbor.com, October 7, 2009, Washtenaw County workers union gives up raise to save jobs, the membership of AFSCME Local 2733 has indeed agreed not to take a previously agreed on 3% raise in 2010 and to forgo a salary adjustment in 2011. The agreement will save $5.2 million over the next two years and 120 - 150 county jobs. The union has also agreed to take 8 "bank days", similar to furlough days.

Bob Guenzel, Washtenaw County Adminstrator, according to Annarbor.com, had high praise for the union:

I want to give a special pat on the back to our labor partners...They really came through and, remember, they didn't have to sit down to the table with us at all. They stepped up and, in my mind, really put the county first and put services first.

The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners also voted unanimously to restore over $442,750 in human services funding in exchange for $450,000 in capital expense reductions. It appears that the county is on the verge of having a balanced budget for the next two years.

The state is operating on a continuation budget for 30 days while the legislature continues to negotiate a balanced budget. At the September WCHO meeting, there was discussion of the likelihood of severe and unprecedented general fund cuts to the Michigan mental health budget. The state seems unwilling or unable to come up with a long term solution to deficits in mental health funding. The impact of reduced general funds for mental health will be felt more by people with mental illness than by those who are developmentally disabled.

The WCHO October meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 from 6 - 8 p.m. at the LRC, 4135 Washtenaw Ave, Ann Arbor. For a schedule of official meetings in Washtenaw County, you can view the calendar of events here.