For Cathy and Eric Mason of Bartlett, funding from the state’s Family Support Program means their autistic son, Samuel, can receive the speech therapy he needs to communicate.

But that money, about $1,300 a year from the $7.4 million program, could evaporate because of Gov. Bill Lee’s mandate for state departments to identify 12% of their budgets that could be cut this fiscal year.

Brad Turner, commissioner of the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, has said the entire department budget is being considered for reductions, creating worries among families statewide and advocates for the disabled.

Lee says ‘everything’s on the table’ for budget cuts

The Masons’ 11-year-old son was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder as a toddler and experienced a gap between ages 2 and 5 when he couldn’t talk to his parents. He is still unable to hold conversations but at least can tell his parents about basic needs.

“That therapy helps Sam to have the tools to be able to live in the world and teaches him how to let people know about his needs … without being aggressive or violent,” Cathy said.

The Masons are among families statewide who receive help through the Family Support Program to pay for everything from therapy to respite care, day care, home modifications, equipment and supplies, personal assistance, transportation, nursing and counseling and even homemaker and housing costs.

The program is available for families with school-aged or younger children with severe disabilities and adults with disabilities who live with their families or are not supported by other state residential programs. No income limit is applied for eligibility.

Samuel’s Applied Behavioral Analysis therapy is finally covered by insurance, but the Masons still pay a $2,000 deductible toward it. And they’re faced with choosing between speech therapy for Samuel each year or insulin for Eric, which he must have to survive, according to Cathy.

Without speech therapy, Samuel could lose all the momentum built up through the years to verbalize his needs.

“It’s very important. This year ... if not for the help of Tennessee Family Support, we would have had to drastically limit Sam’s therapy,” said Cathy, who works part time as a secretary and her husband as a health care administrator.

The program is especially critical for middle-income families who don’t qualify for other state or federal programs to keep children and adults at home and might have to institutionalize them otherwise, according to Sarah Sampson, deputy director of the Tennessee Disability Coalition and state chair of the Family Support Council.

The General Assembly created the program in 1992, and every year it seems to be on the “chopping block,” but especially this fiscal year, according to Sampson.

“It really does allow family members with a disability to stay in their homes and communities because they get to self-direct those services,” Sampson says.

The funds are spent in all 95 counties, and Sampson says she’s heard from more than 250 families in the past couple of weeks about how it touches their lives.

Cara Kumari, spokeswoman for the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, said it is important to note that no decisions have been made about any programs.

“As DIDD examines any potential reductions, we are reviewing all of our programs to ensure the maximum number of persons served in the most efficient way possible,” Kumari said in a statement.

Sampson’s advocacy groups are pushing for the funding to remain intact while also waiting to hear from the commissioner to inform families in case they have to start planning for a funding cut.

She describes another family’s plight, that of a couple in their 70s with a 44-year-old autistic son they care for 24 hours a day.

“The only way they can get out and go grocery shopping is because of the respite care the Family Support Program provides. If they don’t get this help next year, they’re honestly not sure how they’re going to make their everyday (life) happen,” Sampson said.

Without the funds, families might be forced to consider nursing homes or some other type of facility for their children with severe disabilities, she said.

In fact, the program is nearly as important for the families as it is for those with the disability.

Not only does therapy help Samuel Mason with his speech, as he enters the awkward stage of puberty, Cathy receives help understanding his behavior to keep him from becoming frustrated.

“It doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s huge,” she says of the state funding. “And sometimes when you have a child with special needs, it can be very lonely and you feel very isolated.”

Having extra support and knowing someone cares is “huge,” she says. “And it helps you to be a better parent and a better spouse because that’s one less thing you have to worry about.”