Fact Sheet

Fact Sheet

I. Three things have definitely happened to real people in the Cowell Residence Program.

  1. Some people have been notified that there will be no cuts.
  2. Some people have been notified that there will be a 50% cut.
  3. Some have been notified that they will receive no attendent care funds for August.

People in # 2, 3, the majority of those affected, will be forced to move out of Cowell Hospital or out of their apartments, if they live in the community.

II. These people may have three alternatives:

  1. Go home and live with their parents.
  2. Go to a nursing home.
  3. Go to a hospital.

III. Consequences:

  1. Home
    • a. The 15-40 age group is the majority of the serverely disabled. They therefore seek independence from the family.
    • b. Parents are growing old and will be, in the near future unable to deal with the serverely disabled
    • c. Financial, physical, and emotional strain on the family may eventually break up the family.
    • d. A report to the California State Legislature entitled, Physically Handicapped Persons-Pilot Project, 1969, compiled by the California State Health Department, Berkeley, substantiates points a-c.
  2. Nursing Home
    • a. Living in the nursing home is more expensive than independently living in the community. (Nursing home - $600 per month minimum vs. independent living - $450 per month maximum. Costs are all inclusive, i.e. room, board, utilities, attendent, etc.)
    • b. Most of ten, nursing homes have inadequate facilities and staffing.
      • (1.) Nurses aides are usually older women.
      • (2.) There are few male attendents
      • (3.) Most male quadreplegics are tall and heavy and can't be handled by the limited staffs.
    • c. Mortality and illness rates are high in nursing homes.
    • d. Nursing homes are designed primarily for the aged, not the disabled.
  3. Hospital
    • a. Very expensive: $2,000/mo standard.
    • b. The most likely consequence of attendent cuts.
      • (1.) Inadequate preventive care will necessitate specialized medical care.

IV. Conclusion:

The attendent care cuts are a loss of both funds and services. The actual cut is $25,000,000 of which $10,000,000 is state funds and $15,000,000 is federal matching funds. The state money has already been allocated by the legislature and will be spent through the general fund in some other, possibly unrelated programs. The federal money, paid in income tax by Californians, will be lost entirely.

The need exists for attendent care and will have to be paid for. With the state cuts, the financial burden will have to be taken up by the counties through property taxes.

Thus the people of California will have to pay three times: once to federal income tax for the matching funds lost (15,000,000); once again to the state (10,000,000) already allocated; and now once again to the county, which will have to absorb the lost $25,000,000.

About this text
Courtesy of The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley, Calif., 94720-6000; http://bancroft.berkeley.edu
http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb4489n6hk&brand=oac4
Title: From Herbert Willsmore Papers: Fact Sheet
By:  Willsmore, Herbert
Date: [undated] (issued)
Contributing Institution: The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley, Calif., 94720-6000; http://bancroft.berkeley.edu
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