Conn., Calif. facing adult day care, respite center closures

Jul 21 2011

Facing enormous budget constraints, lawmakers in California have sought to find a way to keep day-care services for adults to help keep them out of nursing homes. Conn. residents face a similar situation because the state is slated to close respite centers that help families get a break from caregiving.

The Connecticut Mirror: Families Facing Loss Of Respite Centers, Their 'Saving Grace'
Every few months, Jim Schmitt and his wife take their 14-year-old twin sons to a state-run respite center in Putnam for the weekend. He calls it a saving grace: It's the only time he and his wife spend together without their boys, who have autism and do not speak. ... But officials are planning to shut down the state's 10 respite centers by Sept. 5, part of a plan to cut $1.6 billion from the state budget. ... There's a chance the cuts to the respite centers and other programs that help families that care for people with disabilities or illness will be averted (Levin Becker, 7/19). 

California Healthline: Adult Day Health Care Waits For The Governor
The Legislature passed [Assembly member Bob] Blumenfield's bill, AB 96, which would set up the Keeping Adults Free from Institutions program, at about half the cost of the previous adult day health care program. If Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs it this week, $85 million would be spent trying to keep a good number of the 300 ADHC centers across the state open, and could keep thousands of seniors out of nursing homes. If Brown doesn't sign it, and if the courts don't reverse the elimination, almost all the ADHC centers will close and about 35,000 seniors and the disabled will need to find other services (Gorn, 7/19).