Advocates for disabled denounce waiting lists
Advocates for persons with developmental disabilities have launched a campaign and Web site to draw attention to the nearly 4,000 Kansans who are waiting for services. The “Invisible Kansans” campaign hopes to persuade legislators to fully fund home- and community-based services for those with disabilities. “Our state’s elected leaders have allowed people with developmental disabilities to wait far too long for even basic services,” said Tom Laing, director of InterHab, a statewide group that represents Kansans with disabilities. “It’s time for Kansans to let their legislators know that it’s not acceptable for our most vulnerable citizens to be ignored,” he said. The campaign’s site is invisiblekansans.com Lawmakers will start the legislative session Monday facing about a $140 million budget deficit in the current fiscal year and upwards of a $1 billion shortfall in the fiscal year that starts July 1.

