Published: October 13, 2008

More than three-fourths of the 7,500 developmentally disabled people scheduled to lose benefits this month have appealed the cuts, said a spokeswoman with the state Agency for Persons with Disabilities.

The volume of appeals is extraordinary, spokeswoman Melanie Etters said.

The cases that qualify will go to the state administrative hearings department, which will look at whether agency workers made mistakes in the process of setting recipients' new rates.

"The agency is making every effort to ensure that individuals who think the agency has made an error ... can request a fair hearing," Etters said.

The state Agency for Persons with Disabilities spends about $1 billion a year to help about 31,000 developmentally disabled people receive services at home, so they can stay out of costly group homes and other institutions. But the Legislature is requiring it to cut about $120 million from its budget this year.

In meeting that mandate, the agency determined that benefits for 7,500 should be cut, starting this month. In some cases annual budgets were cut by half. In the case of Clearwater resident Erin Swinerton, for instance, benefits would drop from about $57,000 to $31,000.

The 31-year-old has Down syndrome and is going blind. She needs 24-hour-a-day supervision, said her mother, Mary, 62, who is being treated for breast cancer. With the cuts, Erin would lose 22 hours a week of home care and have to leave a day treatment program, which could force her into a group home costing the state more than $60,000 a year.

The Swinertons are among about 4,550 families who appealed within 10 days of being notified, and for them the cuts will be on hold until their hearings are concluded. About 1,000 filed after the 10-day deadline. Their benefits will be cut as scheduled, on Wednesday, but their cases will be heard. Their benefits will be restored if they win their appeals.

Reporter Lindsay Peterson can be reached at (813) 259-7834.

Find this article at:
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/oct/13/na-4550-appeal-benefit-cuts-for-disabled/news-metro