Easter Seals California - Guiding Principles, 2010

Easter Seals consumers and families have spent over 90 years developing a community based system of supports.  Each day over 29,000 people in California benefit from Easter Seals with services which range from early intervention to senior care.  This includes classroom supports, respite, recreation/socialization, camping, independent and supported living, supported employment, residential homes, child care, adult day support, and veterans with traumatic brain injury.

During the fiscal crisis in California Easter Seals anticipates we will be able to work together to do the following:

Easter Seals is a partner in creating policy solutions that are cost effective, improve the quality of life for the people we serve and are a good investment of state resources, especially in light of current budget constraints.

Easter Seals California Legislative Recommendation 2010

People with developmental disabilities and their families are struggling to adjust to service reductions. Service providers are struggling with rates that have been frozen for a decade or more. Regional center caseloads have grown substantially, limiting access to supports at a critical time for families.  Further reductions will have grave consequences.

Services to people with developmental disabilities and their families have already been impacted by a reduction of $500 million in State General Fund support.  These cuts continue to be projected in next year’s budget proposal.  The form is the continuation of over 20 budget reduction changes to the Lanterman Act and a 3% cut to provider rate reimbursements and regional center operations.  As a part of the broader disability community, the people we serve and advocate for are also being hurt by cuts in safety net programs through elimination of Medi-Cal Optional Benefits, reductions in SSI/SSA (monthly income) and reductions in In-Home Support Services, to name just a few.

Easter Seals believes the Legislature and Administration should consider plans to:

In summary, to protect health and safety we must address this fiscal crisis with common sense and reason.  Heavy cuts have already been made and more are in the process of being implemented.  We must analyze and mitigate the unintended consequence of legislation already enacted.  We ask for your support to keep the safety net programs in place.

Take Action on Legislative Issues Affecting People with Disabilities

Easter Seals assists members of Congress and their staff, White House and federal agency officials, and representatives of other national interests -- as well as citizens like you -- to understand and act in support of policies and programs that help people with disabilities to live with equality, dignity and independence.  Easter Seals' legislative efforts focus on health care, early intervention, child care, education, employment, housing, supports for older Americans, recreation, assistive technology, transportation, and nonprofit organization operations.  

The annual Easter Seals California Legislative Awards Dinner, an event involving all five Easter Seals California Affiliates, was held on Monday, April 23rd.  Every year Easter Seals Bay Area, Northern California, Tri-Counties. Southern California and Superior California take part in a collective effort to recognize and honor members of the California State Senate and Assembly that have done their part to further the Easter Seals Cause: to provide services to children, adults and seniors with disabilities and special needs.

Letter To Congress

March 4, 2010

Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein
Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Mrs. Boxer and Mrs. Feinstein,

We are writing to you to inform you of the outstanding work of the Easter Seals organization and our request to preserve it. This is the first time we have written to you after volunteering in your influential campaigns within the Sacramento area.  Easter Seals is an association that has changed our son, our lives, and our community.

Almost one year to the day, my husband and I were informed that our first born child was diagnosed with Emmaual Syndrome. This is a rare genetic disorder in which the 11th and 21^st chromosome transform and leave behind and extra partial piece that interferes with the development of every system in our son’s body. As new first time parents, we were told that we should never expect our son to crawl, walk, or talk. The most prestigious hospital in the Sacramento area, University of California, Davis Medical Center, recommended that we contact Easter Seals for assistance with our son’s care. This was one of the best decisions that we have ever made.

Upon contacting Easter Seals, we were offered assistance almost immediately. We were able to take advantage of the services of a Child Development Specialist and a Physical Therapist within 3 weeks of us contacting the organization. At a time when we were scared and confused, Easter Seals not only offered us medical assistance, they offered us hope.

Our son has attended bi-weekly sessions with a Child Development Specialist as well as weekly sessions with a Physical Therapist since he was 3 months old. One week after his 1^st birthday, he started to crawl and say the word “MaMa.” One week after that, he has started to pull himself from a kneeling position to a standing position. This simply would not have happened without the guidance of Easter Seals. The specialists have provided us with the hope that our son will be able to achieve his fullest potential. All of us believe that with continued assistance through the sessions, our son will be able to walk and talk within an age appropriate time period.

Easter Seals has proven to our family that early intervention does work. It can transform a person that may have been presented with challenges into a person that can develop, thrive, and contribute to society. Please continue to support Easter Seals and choose it as an organization that holds the highest priority. The miracle workers of Easter Seals deserve it.