In addition to Louisiana and its problems noted in the article below,
Wisconsin rehab has run out of money and may cease to provide services
altogether until July 1.  It is kind of funny that in a time of
extraordinary prosperity and record tax revenues for governments, states,
such as Louisiana, have "budget holes, and rehab programs are either being
cut or running out of cash because it was mis-spent.

As the example below suggests, when rehab says they have no money to
purchase a computer and adaptions for employment or to seek employment,
they may actually have the money but actually be spending it on someone to
go to college who has a vacation home in Hawaii.

kelly

 From the web page:

http://www.theadvocate.com/news/story.asp?StoryID=12592

Baton Rouge Advocate

Published on 4/26/00

Legislature
State rehabilitation program's problems outlined

By SCOTT DYER
Capitol news bureau



Advocate staff photo by Travis Spradling
Marcus Manning and his wife Eliza, both visually impaired, joined a rally
at the State Capitol to protest proposed budget cuts for a program that
trains disabled people so they can hold jobs.
With dozens of disabled people in attendance, legislative auditors told a
Senate panel Tuesday about how $85,000 in state rehabilitation services
went to a visually impaired girl from a well-to-do family with a vacation
home in Hawaii.

Another case cited by Legislative Auditor Dan Kyle and his staff involved a
man who underwent surgery to correct his glaucoma at the expense of his
private insurance, then qualified for funding from Louisiana Rehabilitative
Services to cover his college tuition.

"These are examples of where money is going, and it ought to be going to
the (disabled) people in the halls and on the Capitol steps," said Sen.
Robert Barham.

"That's what is so frustrating to us," said Barham, D-Oak Ridge, a member
of the Senate Finance Committee.

Kyle said the state agency is supposed to consider a disabled client's
financial status in providing certain rehabilitation services.

The agency also apparently failed to get medical and psychological
evaluations to substantiate the need for services in some cases, the
auditor said.

Barham said the cases cited by auditors are a "snapshot" from a sample of
56 cases examined in the Lafayette area and don't necessarily indicate
statewide abuses.

Disabled protesters were on hand, in the committee hearing room and outside
the Capitol, as a show of support for the $79 million program, which serves
32,000 people and gets $4 in federal aid for every $1 in state funds.

"The performance indicators are out here on the Capitol steps. We're the
proof that the program works," said Joanne Wilson, director of the
Louisiana Center for the Blind, during a rally early Tuesday.

Wilson and her fellow protesters voiced concern that the program is on the
chopping block as the state faces a $330 million budget hole next year.

During the rally on the Capitol steps, Sen. Bill Jones, D-Ruston, said,
"Maybe it takes the blind to show us the way, and maybe it takes those who
walk to give us the strength to follow that way."

"Maybe those of you who spend more courage to get through one day than most
of us spend in a lifetime, maybe you can lend us the political will to do
those things that we ought to do," Jones said.

Gov. Mike Foster's proposed budget only contains $12 million in funding for
the program, but he has earmarked another $62 million if more funds become
available through tax hikes or other measures.

The secretary of the state Department of Social Services, Renea
Austin-Duffin, told the Finance Committee the $12 million would cover the
administrative costs of shutting down the program.

Austin-Duffin defended her staff in the case of the visually impaired girl
who received benefits, despite the fact she comes from a prominent family.

The $85,000 was paid to the girl over 11 years and includes specialized
equipment and training in Braille, which the girl was entitled to,
Austin-Duffin said.

The girl moved out of her family's home 11/2 years after the case opened
and assumed all her own living expenses, Austin-Duffin added.

"Disabilities don't stop at the poverty line," Austin-Duffin said.

Sen. Jay Dardenne, R-Baton Rouge, said he's disturbed because, in spite of
the "scathing" audit, every employee in the program received a pay hike
this year.

"We just heard from the legislative auditors about abuse and problems in
that agency, and nobody even got a slap on the wrist," Dardenne said.

The auditors also questioned a program that purchases computers and other
equipment for disabled citizens.

"They have tons of money going out for computers, and once a computer goes
out to a client, it becomes their property," auditor Kerry Fitzgerald told
the panel.

Austin-Duffin said the equipment is turned over to clients because it's
often modified to suit their disability, and that could trigger a lawsuit
if it were turned over to someone else and injured them.

Dardenne questioned how a computer tailored for a certain disability could
pose a potential hazard to anyone.

The department is looking at the possibility of a lease program, but that
would require additional staff, she said.


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