If state government doesn't adequately fund community programs for more than 4,500 people with developmental disabilities, the local programs will deteriorate, said the head of a nonprofit company that runs community programs in northeast Nebraska.

"A lot has been made of what has happened at the Beatrice State Developmental Center," said Alan Zavodny, referring to the serious problems found by federal and state inspectors at the institution for people with developmental disabilities.

"What could happen in community services could make that look like a walk in the park," said Zavodny, CEO of Northstar Services and president of the Nebraska Association of Service Providers.

Gov. Dave Heineman has proposed leaving provider funding at the same level in the next fiscal year. The private companies that operate programs for people with developmental disabilities in local communities were expecting a 2.5 percent increase next year.

Some things are obvious, Zavodny said during a budget hearing Tuesday.

"When it rains you get wet. When you don't pay people very well, you get turnover, and you don't take care of people well."

Two out of 10 people who apply for community program jobs "are good people, and the others are people others don't want to hire," he said.

Zavodny said he didn't expect providers to be exempt from cuts, but wanted senators to know the potential impact to people with disabilities. Community programs include group homes and other supervised living arrangements, supervised work and workshops.

Without rate increases, Zavodny says his company will not expand to provide services for people now on the waiting list, even though the state has money to reduce the list. He is not willing to make that investment when provider rates are so low.

"I'm not going to take a bad situation and make it worse," he said.

Dave Merrill, director of Region V Services, which provides community programs in Southeast Nebraska, echoed the concerns.

When state funds drop by $1 million, "we lose 41 million in federal funds," he said. "So we have less money available in the state, but we have the same problems we had before."

Having no rate increase next year "would be very harmful," he said.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.