A bipartisan group of nearly four dozen Washington lawmakers is urging the state to maintain a program considered vital among parents of children with developmental disabilities.
The Parent to Parent program is threatened as the state faces another year of budget woes. Its future isn’t guaranteed past August, while Washington’s Department of Social and Health services assesses if it should be cut.
In their Monday letter to Gov. Bob Ferguson and Department of Social and Health Services Secretary Angela Ramirez, the 44 lawmakers from the state House and Senate acknowledged the state’s fiscal challenges.
“However, we believe the Parent to Parent program represents exactly the kind of investment government should protect,” they wrote.
Spokespeople for Ferguson and Ramirez didn’t immediately provide comment.
Stacy Dym, executive director of The Arc of Washington State, said Tuesday the letter is a “clear indication of the widespread impact that Parent to Parent has.” Dym’s organization advocates for people with developmental disabilities, and oversees the statewide program under a contract with the Department of Social and Health Services.
Dym hopes Ferguson and Ramirez “will take note of this outpouring of support and reconsider how they prioritize limited state funding for our most vulnerable residents.”
Parent to Parent offers support for families of children with autism and other developmental disabilities. It pairs newer parents with more experienced ones to help guide them through the complicated system of resources.
Families attest that the experience of raising a child with a developmental disability can be isolating, but this program provided them with much-needed community. It serves families in all of the state’s 39 counties, and gets tens of thousands of requests for help each year.
Parent to Parent costs $900,000 a year, and received funding in the current budget. Advocates are shocked the program could suddenly be on the chopping block.
A spokesperson for Ramirez’ agency said last week that funding decisions on Parent to Parent and other state programs haven’t been made yet.
“Our goal is to meet the challenge of the moment in a way that sustainably protects core services and ensures that Washington has a solid financial foundation for the long-term,” spokesperson Jessica Nelson said in an email.
They argue the program’s low cost helps avert more costly interventions and improve outcomes.
“Programs like Parent to Parent help families become stronger advocates for their children while reducing unnecessary frustration and helping connect them with the services they need,” the legislators wrote.
Ferguson has urged state agencies to look for spending cuts as Washington faces yet another potentially multibillion-dollar shortfall. He has specifically cited programs created or expanded after 2019 as possible targets for reductions. Parent to Parent wouldn’t seem to fit that description.
State departments will make their funding requests to the governor in September ahead of his rollout of a two-year budget proposal in December. Lawmakers will consider his blueprint as they craft the state’s spending plan.
Advocates are frustrated at the prospect of the Parent to Parent program being cut outside of the legislative process, with no chance to provide public input.
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