A federal judge today ordered the State of California not to cut a quarter of a billion dollars from a program that provides care to the disabled in their homes. The judge stopped the cuts until she rules on whether they are legal.
Judge Claudia Wilkens' order means the reductions to In-Home Supportive Services -- which would have affected 130,000 people statewide -- will not take effect November 1. Wilkens found fault in the way the Department of Social Services determined whose services would be cut and the amount of time those people were given to appeal the decision.
"What she said was the way the cuts would be implemented would cause serious human suffering," says Deborah Dorfman, attorney for Disability Rights California.
A representative from the Department of Social Services says there might be a delay in reversing the reductions.
