Cuomo Cites Agency Gains For Disabled In Veto
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo has vetoed legislation intended to clear what one lawmaker said in June was a waiting list of 12,000 disabled individuals who needed services or housing.
Cuomo said the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities keeps improving its processing, that the legislation largely duplicates what's already happening and the issue should have been addressed in the budget.
"The bill would unnecessarily divert valuable staff and financial resources from this effort and would also impose additional unbudgeted costs,'' he said in a message accompanying the veto Friday night.
Cuomo also vetoed legislation to provide veterans with health information about service-related post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries. The bill would also require annual reports on veterans in jails and prison. The governor said it would impose the reporting on state corrections officials, who have no authority over local jails, and given the transient jail populations it wouldn't provide "substantive data."
Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg said Monday he hopes the delays in helping disabled New Yorkers will be addressed in the upcoming budget, adding that Cuomo's funding proposal for this year didn't provide enough money, and this year's rollout of the so-called "front door process" that funnels applications to the state agency instead of the nonprofit service providers was "bungled."
His bill would have required the developmental disabilities office to report by Jan. 1 to legislators with plans to improve and expedite application reviews with clear and consistent guidelines.
"We are blessed, as a parent, of a special child," Weisenberg told WCBS 880. " ... The challenges are, while we're blessed with an angel, because we have a special child, we also have the complications of our society to try to meet the needs to protect our most vulnerable population."
The office did not immediately reply Monday to a query about how many disabled individuals are currently on a waiting list for services.
Seth Stein, executive director and counsel for Alliance of Long Island Agencies, representing about 40 service providers, said their recent survey found the service delays persist, especially for thousands of autistic individuals who at 21 are leaving school-based special education services. While slow processing may still be an impediment, he said there aren't enough services for the ``demographic bulge'' of children with autism now needing them, whether that's from better assessments or higher incidence.
"The residential and day programs are effectively at capacity all the time," Stein said.
J.R. Drexelius, government relations counsel of the Developmental Disability Alliance of Western New York, representing 47 nonprofit providers, said there have been ongoing issues with the developmental disabilities office rejecting applications for individuals wanting to leave parental homes for supporting housing and for others seeking day services. Applicants are increasingly assessed as "low need for services" with suggestions they get jobs while leaving their care to parents, he said.
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