Parents protest nonprofit's service cuts
Residents protest kids' service cuts
By Melissa Evans, STAFF WRITER

FREMONT -- Children with special needs are not able to fight for themselves, so a group of about 50 Fremont parents is doing it for them.

Friends of Children with Special Needs, a nonprofit organization that provides services to help children overcome disabilities, chartered a bus and headed to Sacramento on Thursday to voice opposition to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget.

The governor plans to slash money to help families pay for the medical needs of children who have disabilities and wants to tighten the standards throughout the state for families who qualify for county services.

Other cuts to Medicaid and Medi-Cal also would hurt families who depend on the state's help in caring for their children, said Anna Wang, program director for Friends of Children with Special Needs.

"Our children have no voice," she said. "We want to make our voices heard, and this is the time to do it."

The group rallied in front of the state Capitol, and several members met with Assemblyman John Dutra, D-Fremont, and other legislators.

Members were relieved that in-home supportive care services were spared from the budget ax, but parents who need professional help within their home will have to keep their fingers crossed that the federal government does not cut these services. Money for in-home services is doled out to states from the federal government, but protesters worry that could change with the escalating costs of the war in Iraq, Wang said.

Founded in 1996, Fremont-based Friends of Children with Special Needs coordinates roughly 20 programs throughout the Bay Area to give hope to children with disabilities.

The programs include parent support groups, seminars with experts in various fields, academic tutoring, life-skills training and play groups.

The organization also has begun construction of a new, 6,000-square-foot "dream center" on Peralta Boulevard near Edwards Street. The facility, expected to open in 2005, will include a multipurpose room, six classrooms, space for job-training courses and administrative offices.