Nearly 500 additional state Department of Developmental Services employees will be laid off, according to state officials.
The budget plan for fiscal year 2017 includes 492 additional layoffs, which brings the total number of layoffs for the department to 605.
The layoffs are part of an ongoing state workforce reduction.
The state’s plan for DDS includes reducing publicly run residential facilities, as well as institutional facilities.
“We are in a new economic reality and we must continue to adapt. As the world changes, we must change with it and state government must provide high-level services more efficiently. As we work to transform state government, these transitions will undoubtedly be difficult for the families and the employees, but they are nevertheless necessary to move government into the future,” Benjamin Barnes, secretary of the office of policy and management, said in a statement.
The layoffs include several positions and 76 jobs will be cut by Nov. 1, while 416 will be laid off after Jan. 1, 2017.
Local
The SEIU 1199 union released a statement about the layoffs and budget cuts.
"The Governor’s proposal would decimate our state's ability to provide services for the disabled,” SEIU spokesperson Jennifer Schneider said in a statement. “Services for the intellectually and developmentally should be a core function of our state. If the state can find $22 million to give to the world's largest hedge fund than (surely) they can find the money to keep the disabled in the only home many of them have ever known. We urge the Governor to find a better way than balancing the budget on the backs of the disabled.”
Statement of Gian-Carl Casa, CEO of CT Community Nonprofit Alliance, on budget proposals released today by the Department of Developmental Services.
Gian-Carl Casa, CEO of CT Community Nonprofit Alliance, also released a statement.
"The Alliance appreciates that the Department of Developmental Services recognizes community providers are the most cost-effective way to deliver high quality, life-sustaining services. We ask, however, for providers to be part of the discussion on how best to do that, to ensure adequate resources are available, while still delivering significant savings for taxpayers," Casa said.
One hundred and 13 people were previously laid off from the department.
