Advocacy At It's Best

In March of this year, the San Jose City Council announced that due to the city's $100 million dollar deficit, the Office of Therapeutic Services would be eliminated. Almost immediately, community members, local nonprofits and parents went to work advocating on behalf of the Therapeutic Services programs. Two weeks ago, it was announced that major cuts were to be made in both the fire and police departments; cuts that were unprecedented in my 35 years as a resident of San Jose. Within moments of hearing about the cuts to fire and police staff, I was told that the Office of Therapeutic Services had been spared.
When I started making calls to people in the community, several people said that fighting these cuts was going to be a real battle and it was not likely to go in our favor. Others were less optimistic. But there is always a core group of passionate individuals that won't give up no matter what. The key is to find those people. This is advocacy at it's best.
Here is a copy of a letter I wrote to the San Jose City Council in April.

Dear City Council Members,

These challenging economic times call for some very difficult decisions on the part of our City leaders. Certainly, there are many worthwhile programs and valuable human resources at risk. While there is no way to avoid the loss of some programs and services, I implore you to reconsider the City Manager’s proposal to eliminate the Office of Therapeutic Services. People with special needs, children and families are often isolated with very few resources or services available to them. For this reason, they are often the first to see their services eliminated and the last to see new programs developed and implemented. The City of San Jose’s Office of Therapeutic Services has been a progressive leader in the inclusion of people who are struggling for acceptance and basic opportunities.
As the father of a child with special needs and a long time disabilities advocate, I have been proud to call the City of San Jose my home. I have witnessed the growth of this department and the impact it’s had on our community. I’ve spoken with representatives other local municipalities about the merits of therapeutic services for their community and offered the City of San Jose as a model for what truly works.
The loss of these programs means the loss of resources for our most vulnerable citizens. The impact of these losses will be felt in homes, in schools and in neighborhoods throughout our city. Rather than cut valuable services, I would suggest that the City consider partnerships with other local service providers, collaborative programming with other municipalities to leverage services or any progressive strategy aimed at providing services to our most under served population.
I appreciate the hard work and dedication of our City Council. I certainly understand the difficult task at hand and I thank you for this opportunity to share my sincere concerns.
Sincerely,

Brian Miller
Danielle’s Dad
Executive Director
The Autism Project, Silicon Valley