Under pressure to carve $26.6 million from her $2.2 billion budget, Kansas Welfare Secretary Janet Schalansky said Wednesday that she would lay off as many as 43 central-office and 70 state hospital workers and cut funds that help communities care for the poor, disabled and mentally ill.

The news left butterflies in the stomachs of social service providers.

âÂÂItâÂÂs hard to know the full impact of what weâÂÂre looking at, but for a lot of people, these cuts will be devastating — the potential is certainly there,â said Bob Mikesic of Independence Inc., a Lawrence agency that helps the physically disabled stay in their homes.

Schalansky said the depth of the layoffs, which could begin as early as Jan. 15, would be dictated by the number of people who resign or retire.

Reductions also include cuts in:

⢠Aid to community mental health programs, including Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center in Lawrence.

⢠Payments to hospitals and pharmacies.

⢠Day-care subsidies for as many as 1,300 working, low-income families.

⢠Payments to contractors overseeing the stateâÂÂs family preservation, foster care and adoption services.

⢠Aid for adults with disabilities who, without help, could be forced to move into nursing homes.

⢠In-home services to 350 adults with disabilities will be eliminated, and 118 people now on a waiting list for services will be told theyâÂÂre no longer eligible.

âÂÂ’DistastefulâÂÂ

âÂÂThese are extreme, distasteful budget cuts that we have to make, and probably the hardest IâÂÂve ever seen made in SRS,â Schalansky said.

In addition to cuts, eligibility requirements will be tightened, making it more difficult for people with disabilities to qualify for help. And fees for some services will be increased.

Families participating in HealthWave, the stateâÂÂs health insurance program for low-income children, will see their premiums triple, from $10 or $15 a month to $30 to $45 a month.

Vision and hearing examinations will be eliminated, as will incontinence supplies for the poor.

The cuts — 95 in all — were necessitated by Gov. Bill Gravesâ move to head off a projected $312 million deficit in the stateâÂÂs current budget year, which ends June 30.

But disappointing revenue collections are fueling fears the deficit could be even larger.

Numbers released Wednesday showed the state collected $23 million less than anticipated last month — though officials already had significantly lowered their expectations.

To meet the expected deficit, Graves last week ordered most state agencies to reduce by 3.9 percent their draws on the state general fund. Public schools, courts and the Legislature dodged the cut.

Because most SRS programs match their state dollars with federal funds, the latest cut is expected to reduce SRS spending by $49 million.

The depth and breadth of the cuts took many advocates and program directors by surprise.

âÂÂThis is a very dramatic cut for us — it looks like we be getting $300,000 less that what weâÂÂd budgeted,â said Sharon Spratt, executive director at Cottonwood Inc., a Lawrence agency that helps the developmentally disabled.

âÂÂWe canâÂÂt absorb that,â Spratt said. âÂÂWe may be looking at some layoffs, too.âÂÂ

Who gets hurt

Through an SRS program, Vicky Tuttle of Eudora is paid $9 an hour to care for her 49-year-old brother, Jack, whose muscular dystrophy left him unable to walk, feed himself or use the bathroom without assistance.

While at home, Tuttle also cares for her 34-year-old sister, Marilyn, who, like her brother, is battling muscular dystrophy.

âÂÂI work 24-7,â Tuttle said. âÂÂNeither my brother nor my sister can take care of themselves.âÂÂ

Now, Tuttle could be told to take a pay cut.

âÂÂWeâÂÂre barely making it now,â she said. âÂÂIf they do that, IâÂÂd go out and get a job — something that pays more than $9 an hour. But I donâÂÂt know what weâÂÂd do with my brother. He could move to a nursing home, but that would mean heâÂÂd lose all the dignity he has left. I wouldnâÂÂt want to see that.âÂÂ

Foster care, too

Spending on foster care will be cut 5 percent. Adoption and family preservation services are cut 2.5 percent.

âÂÂThatâÂÂs about an $80,000 cut for us,â said Bruce Beale, executive director at DCCCA, a Lawrence-based agency that has the state contract for providing family preservation services in 53 counties in the eastern half of Kansas.

A year ago, SRS cut its family-preservation spending by 30 percent, going from about $15 million to $10 million.

Lawmakers this year restored $2.7 million. But in August, SRS cut the increase by $1 million; on Wednesday, it wiped out the remaining $1.7 million and cut another 5 percent.

âÂÂItâÂÂs a sad state of affairs,â Beale said. âÂÂItâÂÂs frustrating, but we all know the state is broke.âÂÂ

Beale said he would ask to renegotiate DCCCAâÂÂs contract with SRS.

âÂÂThe way it reads now, we have to be able to respond to a crisis within 60 minutes,â he said. âÂÂMaybe I can get that changed to 90 minutes — I say that, but my social workers tell me itâÂÂs not a good idea. ItâÂÂs not safe.âÂÂ