| Robert F. Kennedy's sweeping job cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services earlier this month jeopardized programs ranging from smoking prevention to sexually transmitted diseases. But one group was hit particularly hard: people with disabilities. The layoffs gutted an HHS division called the Administration for Community Living, which funds critical services such as home care, legal assistance and protection from abuse and neglect for people with disabilities and older adults. Meanwhile, there were significant cuts to a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention focused on birth defects and disability issues, like identifying hearing loss in babies. "The disability community is incredibly concerned about the reorganization and the impact it's going to have on critical programs and services," said Alison Barkoff, the former head of the Administration for Community Living. She estimates about half of the roughly 210 employees in that division were laid off. There's been little information from the Trump administration about which programs will be continued and where they will exist within HHS, Barkoff said. While some laid-off employees have been called back, it's only for a short term, Barkoff says the workers have told her. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network says that "gutting ACL makes no sense," since it was "made to improve efficiency." The group says the agency's role is to coordinate services across the government. The cuts come as Congress considers legislation that could make large cuts to Medicaid, which is a lifeline for many people with disabilities. The CDC program, known as Early Hearing Detection and Intervention, has been a public health success story, but had its personnel slashed. Before Congress created the program in 2000, fewer than 1 in 10 newborns received prompt screening for hearing loss, causing them to miss a crucial window when they could have been learning sign language and getting other services. Today, about 98% are screened within days of their birth. The CDC unit had eight employees and seven of them were laid off, according to Donna Smiley, chief staff officer for audiology at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. The employees collected critical data for states, like how many newborns are screened for hearing loss before being discharged from the hospital and how many families are referred to early intervention services. States can still continue to screen newborns for hearing loss. But without those CDC workers, it will be hard to measure the effectiveness of a program that helps determine whether newborns with hearing loss eventually develop language, succeed in school and become employed. The CDC's work "makes it all make sense," Smiley said. — Gerry Smith | 
No comments:
Post a Comment