I understand that our state is in an ugly place financially and I don't have an answer for fixing this.

Cutting the services to people with developmental disabilities is not the answer. Not unless you want to open the institutions and nursing homes to care for neglected individuals, which means higher costs for care.

I went to pick up one of my guys yesterday at Des Moines Adult Day Health. He is 47 years old, has Down syndrome and has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He doesn't have the coping mechanisms to deal with change and neglect.

If you cut 10 percent of the hours of support he gets, who is going to support him the rest of the time? His mother is dead and his father is 81. He has no family that can help with his care.

If we cut the services to our individuals that need support we are putting them in the place to be neglected. The individuals with disabilities, for that matter, our children, disabled and elderly, shouldn't have to pay the debt for our state.

Cheryl Metcalf
Burien