Congress is considering $625-700 billion in Medicaid cuts that would severely impact Easterseals' nationwide operations serving 1.5 million disabled Americans.
Key Quotes from Kendra Davenport, Easterseals President & CEO
On operational impact: "Two-thirds of our employees are direct service providers who go into people's homes and into our centers and whom are paid, in part, with Medicaid funds. We're a large extension of (the) government's function."
On financial consequences: "Those funds come from our donors, from fundraising, and that's already a tricky balance. If Medicaid funding for direct service providers is cut, that'll be a bridge too far. We will end up laying off thousands."
On consequences for disabled adults: "Disabled adults who can't turn to family members or other volunteer caregivers will end up in institutions, if there's any institutional space available. But we're talking about hundreds of thousands of people, so in many places, there won't be space available. They'll be out on the streets. This will bring us back to a very dark time."
On Head Start: "Head Start has been one of the most successful education programs this country has ever seen, and even if the program escapes the scalpel, or chain saw, Medicaid pays for a portion of the caregivers who serve Head Start."
On program interconnections: "Education is not the end of the Head Start story. It's much more than education, it provides early screening, dental care and more. Kids can't learn if they're not healthy."
Additional Programs at Risk
The Senior Community Service Employment Program, which provides job training for low-income seniors, also faces potential cuts. Davenport noted that "even a slight modification has a disproportional effect on low-income seniors."
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