Roberta Johnson, whose 25-year-old, intellectually disabled son, Joshua, can't take care of himself, had a question for the eight legislators attending a state budget public hearing Thursday in Chesterfield County.
"How many of you pray every night that your child will die before you?" asked Johnson, who attended the hearing to urge lawmakers to support mental-health funding.
Members of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance committees held five public hearings around the state Thursday, ahead of the General Assembly session that begins Wednesday. The committees are considering proposed amendments to the $31.7 billion general fund budget for 2010-12.
During the Richmond-area hearing, at John Tyler Community College in Chester, advocates for more mental-health funding praised Gov. Bob McDonnell for proposing to add $10 million to create 275 new intellectually disabled Medicaid support slots.
But they were critical because McDonnell's proposed budget amendments for the fiscal year that starts July 1 do not restore about $80 million in funding to hire more providers.
Susan Massart, a budget analyst with the House Appropriations Committee, said expected federal Medicaid money did not materialize.
Johnson's was not the only tale of woe that dozens of mental-health advocates related at the five-hour hearing.
Organized by Arc of Virginia and the Campaign for Children's Mental Health, they packed the hearing room, wore white T-shirts with a slogan "A Life Like Yours (ALLY)" and passed out copies of their speeches.
Mark Miller, with the Chesterfield Community Services Board, told of his 42-year-old client, Joey Rousch, who has been waiting 27 years for a Medicaid waiver that would enable him to live in the community, with the help of caregivers. Miller read Rousch's statement.
Brianne Jones, of Chesterfield, told of the shock of visiting an uncle in a mental hospital when she was a child.
"He was muzzled, naked and sitting in feces and urine," she said.
Tricia Cavallo, of Hanover County, spoke of her 15-year-old daughter, who is autistic.
"She has no friends, has never been invited to a sleepover, or gone to the mall with girls her age," Cavallo said. But, with the help of intellectual disability waiver services, which she began receiving 10 years ago, "she can go to the grocery store and find items on a list," Cavallo said. "She can brush her teeth and put on her pajamas. She can order off a menu at a restaurant."
She added: "While this may seem sad to people with lives like yours, I am happy for her."
Howard Cullum, president of The Arc of Virginia and a former state mental-health commissioner, said Virginia ranks in the bottom 10 states in spending per capita toward services for people with developmental disabilities.
He said more than 6,400 people are on waiting lists for the Medicaid waivers.
Several speakers acknowledged the budget difficulties the state is undergoing. Because of the recession, Virginia has cut $6 billion from its budget in recent years.
Del. M. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights, and state Sen. R. Edward Houck, D-Spotsylvania, presided over the hearing.
Afterward, Houck said: "No new ground was broken. We are aware of the needs of the intellectually and development disabled community."
Among about 140 speakers, a few addressed concerns about public education and sheriff's salaries.
twhitley@timesdispatch.com
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