Many of my clients have reported new challenges from Regional Center and other service providers. These providers are cutting services to the bone in any way they can. Some Regional Center workers are demanding financial information about the family (which, except the the Family Cost Participation Program, they have no authority to do).
Other organizations, such as the Social Security Administration, are demanding copies of entire Special Needs Trusts, presumably to look for holes they can exploit. (I am happy to share with my clients that the SSA has not found any holes in our trusts.)
School District budgets and services, already tight, are getting tighter.
A Boston Globe article on July 5, 2007 shows that this trend is not limited to California but is nationwide. As agencies face flat funding levels but increased numbers of participants, benefits are squeezed. We can expect this problem to continue and even grow.
Read on for more about the article and some solutions.
