Christie Proposes Shift in Services for Children

TRENTON, N.J. -- Governor Christie's 2013 budget calls for a major shift in how the state helps children with intellectual and physical disabilities. It also adds nearly $25 million in spending on community placements for adults with such problems, enough to move 130 people off its burgeoning waiting list.
The moves won praise from advocates for the "developmentally disabled" — who suffer conditions ranging from severe intellectual disabilities to cerebral palsy and autism.
Under Christie's plan, about 16,000 disabled children would no longer receive services through the Division of Developmental Disabilities, which is part of the Department of Human Services. Instead, their care will be overseen by a new Division of Child Integrated System of Care Services within the Department of Children and Families.