MONTGOMERY COUNTY — Montgomery County Commissioners heard from families who are worried about cuts ending programs that help everyone from preschoolers to adults with special needs.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, most who attended spoke about the Montgomery County Board of Development Disabilities (MCBDD) budget cuts.
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Johnie McDowell was one of the several families to address the commissioners.
McDowell is not just a father of a special needs adult, but also an advocate for his 21-year-old son with Down syndrome.
“He’s been receiving services through DDS and recent cuts have been alarming,” McDowell said.
Commissioners also heard from Debbie Robertson.
She’s the mother of an adult son with special needs, who also uses programs MCBDD offers.
News Center 7 has been following Robertson and her son Adam’s story for a week.
“Thankfully, county services were there because I have no idea where Adam would be today without them,” Robertson said.
As News Center 7 first reported, the MCBDD announced nearly $9 million in cuts last week.
Just two days later, the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners worked with the Human Services Levy Council to send $5 million to the board.
The one-time funding helped save programs and staff positions that were part of the cuts.
County Administrator Michael Colbert said the county wants to help the board through this financial situation.
“Well, one of the areas John, we’ll continue to do is we’ll work with the Human Services Levy Council and with our partners at the state to see if we can get more dollars into the system. I mean, that’s the challenge that we have now. And if the DDS Executive Director and the board decide that they want to go for a higher levy next year, then we’re more than supportive of that,” Colbert said.
MCBDD CEO Pamela Combs provided an updated statement regarding the budget cuts to News Center 7 on Tuesday.
“We look forward to working with the Commissioners on addressing our Human Services Levy allocations, as well as revisiting our 1977 levy, which has been tabled for nearly 50 years, to ensure Montgomery County’s citizens continue to receive the services they have received for decades, and are served in the same fashion, with the same quality of care, that other urban counties with the same level of need are able to provide their citizens,” Combs said.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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