Troubled disability agency's director resigns

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http://www.miamiherald.com/548/story/519080.html

By CAROL MARBIN MILLER AND MARY ELLEN KLAS

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TALLAHASSEE -- Caught in a pincer between angry lawmakers and even angrier advocates, Jane , the head of one of the state's most troubled departments, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, resigned Friday as the legislative session neared an end. , who took over the disabilities department in April 2007 after heading an agency that provided assistive technology to disabled people, never made sweeping progress in reforming a department plagued by accusations of mismanagement and insensitivity since becoming independent in 2004. Isaac, a spokeswoman for Gov. Charlie Crist, said the governor's office was told of the resignation Friday. will remain at the helm of APD for at least another week or two, Isaac said.''The governor wishes her well,'' said Isaac. ``She was a great advocate for the disability community.''In a short letter to Crist dated April 24 -- though not made public until Friday -- , 49, said she decided to leave the agency ``after a great deal of thought and prayer.''''I am confident that I am leaving the agency in a better place than I found it,'' she wrote. said she and her husband agreed it was time to leave the ''incredibly physically and emotionally demanding'' job, adding she had not expected to lead the agency for an extended period., who has a nephew with autism and helped chair a state task force on the neurologic disorder, said she does not have another job lined up, but is considering a position that would allow her to work with or advocate for children with autism.About 31,000 Floridians -- mostly people with mental retardation, autism and cerebral palsy -- receive services from APD, and another 16,000 remain on a waiting list that gets longer every year. With a shrinking budget and growing costs, administrators have been forced to ration services, a policy that has drawn the ire of families and advocates.''This is definitely a no-win job,'' said Bob Butterworth, who heads the state Department of Children & Families, which included Florida's disabilities program until four years ago. ``I admire her for doing it for a year-and-a-half. But it is clearly the worst job in state government right now.''''I'll miss her,'' Butterworth added. has acknowledged that much of her job entailed taking blows from angry parents, advocates and service providers. ''When I took the job,'' she told The Miami Herald Friday, ``I got more condolences than congratulations.''It's the best job in state government if you want to make a difference. But it's a thankless job for someone who doesn't mind getting beaten up,'' she said.Advocates for disabled people say they will endure a disproportionate share of the pain of nearly $4 billion in cuts from a $66.2 billion state budget approved Friday. Social service agencies will see cuts of about $451 million.Programs for people with disabilities -- especially group homes that must employ enough staff to care for people with complex medical and behavioral needs -- will have sustained about $180 million in cuts to reimbursement rates over two years. The reductions, about 20 percent over that period, will force some providers out of business, they warn.Some of the advocates lashed out at in recent weeks, saying she failed to mount the kind of aggressive campaign with lawmakers that brought results to other agencies: Butterworth, for example, avoided some of the threatened cuts that concerned him the most, including the layoffs of 71 child abuse investigators included in earlier budget drafts.''It was obvious that Mr. Butterworth was quite vocal in expressing his displeasure'' to legislators, said Clint Bower, who heads MACtown, which operates group homes and other programs for disabled people in Miami-Dade. ``While I was in Tallahassee, I saw him everywhere. He was advocating strongly for the children of this state.''In contrast, Bower said, seemed to be on the sidelines as deep cuts to her agency were being planned, and only began efforts to mitigate the reductions about a week ago. ''Then,'' he said, ``we saw some leadership come out that should have been happening all throughout the session.''''Her advocacy efforts were too little, too late,'' said Bower.Some advocates went so far as to accuse of ''killing people'' by not doing a better job of protecting the agency's funding, said Nan Rich, a Sunrise Democrat who is vice chair of the Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee. counters that she advocated for agency clients when she could, but part of her job was to act as ''fiscal steward'' over taxpayer money, to ensure the agency lived within its means.Rich called ''a lovely woman'' who cared deeply about her agency's clients. But, Rich added, she hopes Crist will find a new director with a deeper understanding of how to administer a large, unwieldy agency.

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