Protests loom over state cuts

Disabled, blind said unfairly hit; Mental health programs affected

Jim Agostinelli and Barbara Drew, who are blind, in Stoneham yesterday. They are losing their jobs because of state cuts. (Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff)

A fierce backlash is brewing over social services budget cuts imposed this week by Governor Deval Patrick, foreshadowing potential hazards as the first-term governor attempts to navigate the economic crisis.

Advocates for the blind are planning a protest next week of Patrick's elimination of funding for Ferguson Industries for the Blind, a state-run business in Malden, which will lead to layoffs of 25 visually impaired workers. The advocates are also objecting to reductions in funding for basics like magnifying glasses and talking clocks for poor, elderly blind residents.

This morning, a group of mental health advocates was expected to demonstrate at a state conference of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in Danvers over cuts to training programs for the mentally disabled.

"I've been doing this work for 40 years, and these are the most dramatic cuts I've seen to people with mental disabilities," said Stan Connors, president of Bay Cove Human Services, which serves about 14,000 people with mental health disabilities such as schizophrenia, chronic depression, and bipolar disorder. Bay Cove is losing about $3.5 million annually from a $63 million budget, and will lay off 40 of its 1,400-member staff. It estimates the cut will prevent it from serving about 760 people.

"This is really breathtaking," said Connors. "Frankly, many of these people will end up in the hospital. Some will end up incarcerated, and, I believe, some will die."

The protests are building as social workers and nonprofit advocacy groups pore over the details of Patrick's 1,000 layoffs and $1 billion in budget cuts and spending controls, which were required to make up for revenues lost in the economic crisis. About $625 million of those cuts were made unilaterally by the governor this week across dozens of accounts, using his power to balance the budget, and went into effect immediately. He is preemptively denying another $146 million in anticipated spending requests from his departments. He needs legislative approval for the remainder.

The state's financial problems, for instance, have required $9.3 million in cuts in the Department of Mental Health budget.

Administration officials said they wanted to preserve services that provide homes and medical care to mental health patients, but transitional programs that help mentally ill residents get training and find jobs will be scaled back.

"I'm very concerned about every one of the cuts we put on the table," said Barbara Leadholm, commissioner of the Department of Mental Health. "We're cutting programs that we believe are important, effective, and support our consumers' recovery. That being said, we still had to make these cuts. We're having to prioritize in a way none of us wants to do."

The administration yesterday gave department heads several options for cutting back on staff, including delaying comp time and offering one-time payments of up to $7,500 to employees who accept layoffs.

Services for Employment and Education, a program that helps reintegrate adults with mental illnesses into the workforce, is being eliminated as a result of the budget cuts. The program, which relies on $6.6 million from the state, will shut down on Dec. 31 and leave about 2,000 people statewide without job support.

Next month, Ferguson Industries for the Blind is scheduled to close, and 25 blind workers were told on Thursday that they would lose their jobs. Another seven workers at the facility are state employees, most of whom will be relocated to other areas of state government.

The 102-year-old manufacturing facility employs blind workers who make brooms, office supplies, and linens.

"With a stroke of the pen, they eliminated us," said Jim Agostinelli, a 59-year-old from Stoneham who has been legally blind for about 13 years after glaucoma gave him pinhole vision.

Agostinelli has been calling state representatives and members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, hoping anything could help prevent the center's closure. He and others are planning to come to the State House next week to protest the cuts.

The budget cuts the governor announced this week included few winners, with veterans programs and antigang grants for police officers being among the few areas that were not cut. The governor also decided not to cut local aid to cities and towns, which has won him plaudits from municipal officials.

Even high-profile initiatives important to the governor were cut, including $5 million that was going to bolster the state's life-sciences sector; $3 million to expand full-day kindergarten classes; and $4 million for putting new police officers on the streets.

The governor also cut into pet projects that state lawmakers boast about in their district, although many in the Legislature so far have been accepting of the governor's plans. Even House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi was not immune. The North End visitor center in the heart of his district will be all but eliminated, one of his aides said. But some have criticized the fact that one of the governor's pet projects, the $3 million Commonwealth Corporation, is only taking a 5 percent trim.

"This is obviously a sacred cow," said Senate minority leader Richard Tisei. "I don't know how you can cut mental retardation and mental health services and leave boondoggle like this."

Joe Landolfi, a spokesman for Patrick, said Patrick has made numerous cuts throughout his favored programs, including a 17 percent reduction for his own office budget.

Meanwhile, workers from Ferguson Industries will have to start looking for new jobs.

Barbara Drew, a legally blind, 42-year-old Haverhill resident, used to work at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital, delivering meals to patients, until she mixed up the 8 and the 6 on one of the rooms and gave a meal to a patient about to go into surgery. Embarrassed by the mixup and fearful she could have endangered someone, Drew said, she went home, cried, and quit her job. About 14 months ago, she was hired at Ferguson Industries.

She has four children in college and her salary is dedicated to helping them stay there. She just doesn't know how.

"We live check to check," Drew said. "We're looking at not sending one or two, or trying to work something out. It's not good. It's not good."

Frank Phillips of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.