A Red Deer woman is urging families with people with developmental disabilities to dig in their heels and reject requests to take a reduction in services.

In December, Alberta Seniors and Community Supports cut $11 million in funding for the last fiscal quarter of 2009-10 to the Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD) program that serves adults.

Central PDD region, which covers a large area including Red Deer, and government say Central Alberta has managed to cut $1.8 million with little impact to clients.

Others disagree.

Parent Lily Breland, who has two adult sons with severe mental disabilities and autism, said she was asked to get by with one support worker for both sons instead of one worker for each son or cut back on workers’ hours.

“What I’ve found over the years is that anything that was cut from the contract never came back, even in boom times. So I quit saying yes,” said Breland, of Red Deer.

Her sons Ryan, 35, and Daniel, 30, each have a worker from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. The workers take her sons out into the community. One worker cares for them at the house six hours on Friday and on Saturday.

When they don’t have workers, Breland is paid by PDD to be their caregiver because they need special care 24-hours a day.

“Daniel’s behaviours are extreme and it’s primarily self-abusive. He’d bite his wrist. Bang his head, grab his T-shirt and scratch himself, try to grab the staff’s hand to bite it,” Breland said.

Daniel can’t speak and uses about 20 signs and gestures, and behaviours to communicate.

Ryan can speak but communication can still be difficult, including expressing emotions. For example, when he’s angry he’ll either swear, cough or spit.

“Then you have to figure it out,” his mother said.

Breland said she hopes guardians who are new to the PDD system don’t buckle under the pressure to accept service cuts. Not only would it impact that client, it could also be used to guilt other guardians into taking similar cuts.

Annual service contracts can’t be changed without a guardian’s consent.

Wayne Morrow, chief executive officer with Central PDD, said his department has succeeded in trimming its budget to $142 million.

He stressed that service cuts were voluntary for guardians and PDD worked with each of the 38 service providers so that cuts don’t “interfere with the safety and health of the people they supported or their well-being.”

So far service providers have cut $500,000 to $600,000. PDD is still working with some service providers on cost reduction strategies, he said.

Money has also been cut through a reduction in operations at Michener Centre and Youngstown home in the Oyen area due to the decreasing population at those sites, at the regional PDD office by not filling vacant positions and by reducing discretionary funding.

Seniors and Community Supports Minister Mary Anne Jablonski said she has been hearing “a lot of the fear and anxiety of what might come.”

“If any of this affects the safety and security of their loved one, or puts them at risk, I want to know about it because that’s not what’s suppose to be happening,” Jablonski said.

Despite the cuts, Alberta’s PDD budget for the year came to $600 million, an increase of about $20 million from the previous year.

Jablonski could not say what the 2010-11 budget has in store for people with developmental disabilities. But the province has already warned Albertans there will be sacrifices.

Morrow said Central PDD would look at similar ways to reduce costs if necessary.

“I think the advantage we have is we have a full year to look at it and a full year to gain efficiencies and plan them out in a way that will not be detrimental to the people supported.”

Breland said she can’t understand why the province can’t guarantee steady funding.

“My handicapped sons aren’t going away. This is a long-term involvement. Surely they can budget accordingly because it’s frustrating.”

It’s constant stress for guardians, she said. “It never goes away. You can never let your guard down.”

Cosmos executive director Diane Lehr said she’s still looking for a way to cut its 2009-10 budget.

She said Cosmos doesn’t want to reduce services to vulnerable adults, “but there comes a time when you’ve been lean and lean — there’s no place else to go.”

And ultimately, it won’t solve the problem. “I’m a day program. If I cut an hour a day to any of the 130 people we provide supports to, residential (services) will be picking it up. They’ll be going home and the residence is funded by PDD, so that’s not really a cost savings,” Lehr said.

Not to mention the impact of the quality of life for PDD clients, she said.

szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com