Missouri State legislators are targeting people with disabilities to save money in the state budget. The local independent living center, Access II ILC, is at risk of closing its independent living doors.
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Legislators in Jefferson City are working at reducing costs in the state budget and people with disabilities seem to be taking the hardest hit. In House Bill 2, the latest version of the budget is calling for stripping 2.4 million dollars away from independent living centers (ILC) across the state. The 22 centers in Missouri that have already suffered multiple cuts over the past few years are mandated to provide services to the elderly and disabled populations throughout Missouri at no cost.
Access II ILC, located in Gallatin, is the local CIL that serves an eight-county coverage area in rural northwest Missouri. They provided over 17,000 services last year to people with disabilities, but that all may be changing very soon.
If the state does not restore the funding, people in our area are not going to have anywhere to turn when they need help. Many centers will be forced to close their doors and turn people away. We need people to speak up on behalf of the most vulnerable population in our communities.
Without the independent living dollars, Access II ILC will no longer remain a CIL and will be forced to stop providing transportation services, child advocacy services, durable medical equipment, telephones for the hard of hearing, benefits planning, advocacy, independent living skills training, peer counseling, information and referrals services, and more.
Access II is asking the community to please contact representatives and senators on the budget conference committee and ask them to restore funding to centers for independent living. Information on contacting your legislator can be found at http://www.senate.mo.gov/ and http://www.house.mo.gov/.
Jessica Adkins, Marketing and Development Director at Access II