Diagnosed with a degenerative bone disease at age 18, Laurie Camden has been through eight hip surgeries.

The last was the worst – she developed a staph infection, and surgeons had to remove an entire hip and part of her pelvis and back muscle.

Doctors have told her she can no longer live alone unless she gets help.

Luckily for Camden, now recuperating at Heartland Health Care in Champaign, the state's Community Reintegration Program helps people with disabilities move out of nursing homes and into independent living. She should be back home in a few weeks, according to Chris Bott, Camden's advocate at the PACE Center for Independent Living, which manages the program locally.

Funding for Community Reintegration was "zeroed out" in Gov. Pat Quinn's proposed budget for 2012.

"She's 50 years old. If this program went away she wouldn't have the option of getting to go back home," Bott said, to which Camden adds, "It would be devastating."

From refugees to hungry seniors to children in crisis, proposed state cuts could disrupt services to more than 6,000 people in need – and cost the community several hundred jobs, a new survey by the United Way of Champaign County shows.

The poll of 30 agencies that receive funding from the United Way was conducted in late February after state budget cuts were proposed for rest of this year and fiscal 2012, which starts July 1. They haven't been officially notified what will be cut, but they're estimating the community could lose $3 million to $4 million.

Beyond the numbers, the survey reveals the widespread impact on the community, including:

– Up to 900 senior citizens who could get fewer meals through the Peacemeal program, which faces a possible $50,000 cut.

– The potential closure of the East Central Illinois Refugee Mutual Assistance Center in Urbana, which helps hundreds of immigrant families each year and would lose a fifth of its budget.

– Fewer children receiving temporary shelter at the Crisis Nursery, putting them at risk for abuse and neglect.

The loss of state funds would cripple the network of agencies that serve those constituencies, officials said in interviews with The News-Gazette last week.

"Our community is very generous and very willing to help," said Sue Grey, vice president for community impact at United Way. "At some point people may say they're already doing their part. The volume of money being lost is more than what our community is ready for."

The United Way and its partner agencies want city and county governments to step up and fight for services that affect, by their count, thousands of local residents. They distributed the results of the survey Friday to legislators, health care administrators, and city and county officials.

"All these parties are going to be impacted by what's happening here and are going to have to put a plan in place," said Dale Morrissey, president and chief executive officer for the Developmental Services Center, which could lose almost $500,000. "It's not about keeping DSC alive. It's about the people we serve."

The cities face their own budget pressures, officials acknowledged. Bruce Suardini, executive director of Prairie Health Systems, said Champaign and Urbana have been proactive about planning for spending reductions, and they should be proactive in "how they work with the social services safety net once it falls," he said.

His agency is among the hardest-hit, projecting that 1,660 people could lose treatment services and 1,100 would no longer get prevention education. About 51 employees would lose their jobs.

Besides the direct cuts in services, the loss of state funding would have a ripple effect throughout the community, officials said.

Parents who lose respite care or other services from DSC, for example, might have to quit their jobs to care for their disabled child and go on unemployment, or put their child in more expensive residential care. Under the proposed cuts, more than 100 local caregivers would likely lose income, Morrissey said.

DSC has a waiting list already of more than 200 people for its adult programs. Now that timeline moves to "never," he said.

Other examples: A patient with mental illness who can't get services because of staff cuts at Community Elements mental health center might end up in a homeless shelter or on the streets. A drug addict who can't get treatment at Prairie Center may wind up in a hospital emergency room, or turn to crime and wind up in jail – both more costly options.

Police officers, firefighters and emergency rooms will feel the effects first-hand, said Sheila Ferguson, chief executive officer at Community Elements. With reduced staff and services, "we will no longer be on the front lines," she said.

One big worry is the impact on Champaign County's drug court. Defendants sentenced to drug court have to get drug treatment and counseling through Prairie Center, get drug tests weekly, go to jail for a few days if they fail, enroll in a 12-step program and, when they're ready, enroll in school or get a job.

The drug court recently graduated its 22nd class, seven adults who had stayed drug- and crime-free for at least a year.

Since its inception, 130 adults have successfully graduated, all "long-term criminals who've had long-term addictions," said Associate Judge Jeff Ford, who called it a good ripple effect.

"We've taken people who were basically just taking from the community, committing crimes, losing their children to the welfare system, not doing anything of use, and we make them into people who hopefully are now working, putting money back into the community, keeping families together," Ford said. "We've saved this community and the state millions of dollars."

No one is sure how the funding cuts will affect drug court, as the agencies won't get official word on the exact spending levels until March 15.

The proposed cuts compound the pressure on agencies that have juggled money for more than a year to cover past-due reimbursements from the state. DSC is owed about $2 million, which is costing the agency $50,000 to $100,000 in interest, Morrissey said.

The "third shoe," said Mark Driscoll of the Champaign County Mental Health Board, may be federal budget cuts, which could affect homeless shelters among others.

Ferguson said the county's social services programs work closely together and rely on each other for resources, but that would be jeopardized if the state cuts are approved.

For example, Community Elements and Prairie Center both provide mental health and substance-abuse treatment services in Rantoul, but those may have to be cut, Ferguson said.

And that will likely send more people to the Community Service Center of Northern Champaign County in Rantoul.

In the survey, even agencies that don't receive state money said they would feel the effects. The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, for example, said families may not be able to afford Scout memberships or summer day camps, and children would lose that positive influence. The Champaign-Urbana Schools Foundation expects to see more homeless children in schools as families lose other support.

Looking ahead, the United Way, cities and the Champaign County Mental Health and Disabilities boards may be forced to weigh programs and consolidate funding into core services, however those may be defined, Grey and others said.

The United Way board extended its two-year funding cycle by a third year to provide some financial stability for its agencies, Grey said.

In the meantime, Camden hopes the state won't cut Community Reintegration. "I couldn't imagine the numbers of all the people it would affect," from patients to personal assistants who'd lose jobs, she said.

Camden, a former secretary, said she worked until she could no longer walk and has "never taken a thing from the state" except disability, which she paid into while she still had a job. She uses a wheelchair, crutches or a walker to get around, but needs help with laundry, cooking, housekeeping and errands.

"It's cheaper for them to do this than it is for them to put me in some kind of nursing home," she said.

For example ... four examples

A look at how four local programs would be affected by state budget cuts (a spreadsheet can be found at http://www.news-gazette.com):

Champaign County CASA

"Our program does not specifically have any programs being cut. However, cuts to treatment centers such as Prairie Center and Community Elements will have a huge impact on individuals who are involved in our cases. Wait lists will be extended if treatment is available at all. As a result, children could remain separated from their families for longer periods of time."

PACE Independent Living Center

An estimated 1,000 to 1,500 people could lose services, from medical equipment rental to deaf services to Community Reintegration, resulting in more adults in nursing homes.

Executive Director Nancy McClellan-Hickey said the cuts would take disability services back 25 years, to before PACE existed and "there was this bottomless pit of need in the area."

Developmental Services Center

The nearly $500,000 in cuts would affect 74 families who could lose respite care, five to eight people who may lose their spots in group homes, and 200 people on waiting lists for various training or support services that help keep them independent.

Community Service Center of Northern Champaign County

A neighborhood-based juvenile delinquency program that includes neighborhood meetings, after-school programs, field trips and advocacy would likely be cut, leaving 150 to 170 young people "without a safe, structured, environment to go to after school. This will put them more at risk of alcohol/substance abuse, teen pregnancy, gang-related activities, and potential involvement with the juvenile justice system."