An Extra $500,000? For Staff or Services?

That the U.S. states are experiencing enormous financial problems is no longer something that requires me to post evidence when I state it. We all know it. Many of us feel it. So it's really exciting to hear that a state-contracted regional center managed its internal budget so well that it was over by $500,000--without reducing its quality of services.

Or--maybe not so exciting.

In California, Central Valley Regional Center took the $500,000 it saved and distributed is as a pay raise, to the protest of the disability community.

Democratic Sen. Dean Florez and others said that money should have been spent to protect services essential to people with autism and cerebral palsy, or be returned to the state.

"We're not saying that their staff don't deserve raises--our staffers would love a raise, too," said Ron Killingsworth, who represents the Central Valley Caucus of the California Disability Services Association. "But to spend half a million dollars on employee bonuses when we're facing huge cuts to programs for the developmentally disabled? We just don't understand."

The regional center claims they have good reason for the decision--they are concerned about employee retention as financial times get harder. The worry is that quality of services will decline in the future because better staff will not stick around.

While my bias will always side me with the folks wanting the money to be put into services and not into employee bonuses, the issue of underpaying support staff isn't one that can just be ignored. Underpaid staff are less likely to provide us--me--with quality service. The question is where is the best balance?