There are moments that make one less than proud of one's adopted state.
In this case, the state is Indiana, home of the Hoosiers.
And the reason is the advice of state workers to parents of severely disabled children: below the fold.
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana's budget crunch has become so severe that some state workers have suggested leaving severely disabled people at homeless shelters if they can't be cared for at home, parents and advocates said.
They said workers at Indiana's Bureau of Developmental Disabilities Services have told parents that's one option they have when families can no longer care for children at home and haven't received Medicaid waivers that pay for services that support disabled people living independently.
Marcus Barlow, a spokesman for the Family and Social Services Administration, the umbrella agency that includes the bureau, said suggesting homeless shelters is not the agency's policy and workers who did so would be disciplined.
However, Becky Holladay of Battle Ground, Ind., said that's exactly what happened to her when she called to ask about the waiver she's seeking for her 22-year-old son, Cameron Dunn, who has epilepsy, autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Holladay, a school nurse, said she and her husband would go bankrupt trying to pay for services themselves, so Cameron spends most days sitting in his stepfather's truck while he works as a municipal employee.
Ind. parents told to drop disabled kids at shelters State budget cuts have left families with few affordable care options
Keep in mind, the state is under the second term administration of Republican Mitch Daniels, he who sold out major highways to private interests for short term gain.
One of his other claims to fame was money wasted on a disastrous failed contract with IBM to "modernize" welfare services.
ctober 16, 2009, 1:52pm
Yesterday, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels announced the cancellation of the state's large welfare modernization contract with IBM after deciding that not enough progress had been made on a corrective action plan to resolve ongoing implementation issues. As Mary Beth Schneider and Bill Ruthhart at the Indianapolis Star report today:
Calling it an endeavor that "just did not work," Gov. Mitch Daniels on Thursday canceled Indiana's 10-year, $1.34 billion contract with IBM to deliver welfare services. In its place, Indiana will develop a hybrid structure that keeps some elements of the modernized welfare system, Daniels said, while restoring the best of the past system: personal contact. [...]
He said taxpayers still will save money under the hybrid system, though less than hoped for under the IBM contract.
Under the hybrid system, instead of being pushed to apply for help through impersonal call centers or computers, clients once again will meet face-to-face with a worker in a county office. State-employed caseworkers will be assigned to assist applicants.
Out of Control Policy Blog Indiana Cancels IBM Welfare Modernization Contract
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s human services agency says it found problems with IBM Corp.’s takeover of welfare intake services early in the project and suggested delays, but yielded to the company’s wishes to expand the project.
IBM, meanwhile, claims the Family and Social Services Administration seized more than $9 million worth of its computers, servers and office furniture without paying for them after Gov. Mitch Daniels fired the technology giant last year.
The counter charges are included in filings rebutting and denying claims in the former partners’ lawsuits against each other in Marion Superior Court in Indianapolis. The state agency is suing IBM for more than $1.3 billion, claiming the Armonk, N.Y.-based company breached one of the biggest outsourcing deals in state history. IBM wants the state to pay $52.8 million it says it’s owed in deferred payments and equipment costs.
The two sides sued each other May 13 over IBM’s canceled $1.37 billion contract to automate intake for Medicaid, food stamps and other benefits received by more than a million Indiana children, seniors, elderly and disabled residents.
October 29, 2010 Indiana: IBM welfare intake work flawed from start