Defend your own…
By: Jack Krumm, Editor, The New Hampshire Challenge

Families and advocates of people with disabilities are put on notice. They once again, will be confronted with un-informed and false assumptions about the services they receive in NH.

The urge to entertain false assumptions by politicians knows no party boundary. As we go to print, several events are being scheduled around NH to listen to advocates and users of the various DHS delivery systems, as NH DHS investigates consolidation.

The unchallenged assumption, the conclusion reached without fact is that consolidation works. Read our article on page one about the truth of the costs of consolidation in the North Country under John Stephen. The only thing these efforts do is provide political cover or free press for politicians who need it.

Read further the history of the disability movement in NH researched by our own Janet Krumm and Jamie Stephenson. Read also the history of Family Support by our friend Kathy Mandiville. Janet, Jamie and Kathy outline the pressures and economic conditions of the early 1990’s, which are a mirror of today’s problems.

Back then, we endured Terry Morton’s early assumptions. However, Terry Morton was a great man who learned of the value of our community based delivery system, and local control. Former Commissioner Morton corrected himself when presented with the facts. At the end of his singular life well lived, he was a behind the door advocate for the Developmental Disability Community during the Benson transition and a financial backer of this newspaper. He urged cuts away from our community, as he knew the value and worth of our locally controlled delivery system.

Then we had to deal with Commissioner John Stephen… and his false assumptions, all of which are laid out and refuted by the historical information in the article on page one of this newspaper. The only economy of scale realized was John Stephen’s access to a willing press.

And now we are confronted with a democratic administration looking to consolidate services.

We at The Challenge purposefully arm our readership with our own well researched history of our struggle for justice concerning people with disabilities by three women of courage. We lay bare the facts about false assumptions concerning savings NEVER realized through consolidation. We put these facts and stories in your mailbox now, because you will need them in the upcoming weeks.

For the sake of your children, confront the false assumption. Do not tolerate any democrat, republican or libertarian who would use demagoguery at the expense of our people. You are now armed with the facts, show up at the capital, testify and defend your own.