MONTGOMERY COUNTY — New hope for families worried about cutting programs that help everyone from preschoolers to disabled adults.
“I probably had the best night’s sleep last night that I’ve had since I’ve known that since I found this information,” Debbie Robertson of Centerville said.
She is talking about some financial relief on the way to the Montgomery County Board of Developmental Disabilities Services (DDS).
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News Center 7 previously spoke to Robertson when the Montgomery County Board of Developmental Disabilities announced that they are cutting $8.9 million worth of programs and services.
Her adult son, Adam, has special needs and utilizes board services, including their disabilities recreation program and their mental health services.
Those are services that the board announced were going away as a part of the cuts.
Now Montgomery County’s board of commissioners, which is independent of the DDS board, is designating $5 million to the agency.
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“It’s great to be able to provide this update. And I believe it’s because of your reporting and the reporting of others that got this solution in place as quickly as it happened,” Dr. Pamela Combs, EdD, Montgomery Co. Board of Developmental Disabilities Services CEO said.
News Center 7′s John Bedell spoke to Combs about how they plan to use that $5 million.
“We plan to use that $5 million to restore hopefully all of our mental health program, a lot of our recreation program, we won’t be able to restore all of it. But we will be able to restore some of it. We should be able to restore our early intervention – most if not all of those positions,” Combs said.
There’s still some uncertainty ahead for Robertson and many others but this funding is providing some hope.
“While it’s a huge relief, it’s not the end of my advocacy, because my hope is that in telling Adam’s story, I am also giving voice to those who don’t have anyone to advocate for them,” she said.
Combs said this is short-term funding and she estimates they will be able to save “90 percent” of the 62 people who were set to be laid off as part of these cuts.
She said they are working for a long-term solution and with community partners to continue to provide services that will still be among the remaining $4 million in cuts.
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