SOME CUTS ARE DEEPER STATE BUDGET FIXES HURTING FAMILIES OF DISABLED KIDS.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Logan and Trevor Allen bounce and swing amid the trampolines and forts in a special activity room, laughing gleefully at each tumble as their therapists look on.

But in private, Trevor, 5, and Logan, 4, require constant care and supervision. Both were diagnosed with autism when they were just 22 months old, and they each spend several hours a week in physical, social and speech therapy to keep at bay the silent withdrawal often associated with the disease.

``You're kind of in a bottle all the time,'' said mother Sherlene Allen, 39, of Valencia. ``That anxiety level all the time is very intense.''

For a break from the fray, Allen relies on respite care. Professionals spend a few hours a week with Logan and Trevor, allowing her some time away with her husband and 8-year-old son Wyatt.

``When you're back home, you can take on that battle again,'' she said.

Yet this and other programs Allen relies to keep her family together have fallen on the chopping block in Sacramento. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to slash $3.8 billion from the state's budget over two years include the elimination of ``non-core'' services for the developmentally disabled, to save $250 million.

``We need to focus on saving core services, and these are difficult decisions,'' governor's spokesman Vince Sollitto said. ``The people elected Gov. Schwarzenegger to lead and to make difficult decisions. The simple fact of the matter is we don't have any money.''

Besides respite care, art and music therapy, equestrian therapy and camp experiences for the mentally disabled also face cuts. Most of these services receive state funds through the North Los Angeles County Regional Center - one of 21 regional centers established statewide to help those with autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and other disabilities.

The Van Nuys-based center serves some 12,000 people in the Antelope, San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys. Executive director George Stevens said the proposed cuts mean an estimated loss of $12 million, and would disrupt services for some 2,600. The center's annual budget is roughly $124 million.

``It creates more and more challenges this year,'' he said. ``We would have no choice but to terminate the services. ... This is not something we want to do. We're here to help people.''

The center also won't be able to assist new families. Schwarzenegger's proposal includes a cap in services for the disabled, suspending the Lanterman Act. The 35-year-old act signed into law by Gov. Ronald Reagan guarantees state care for all disabled.

Allen is prepared to turn to private care providers should services be eliminated, but it will likely cost her more. Caring for a disabled family member already costs $6,000 to more than $12,000 a month, she said.

``I'll have to choose which kid gets what service,'' Allen said. ``That is just an absolutely awful situation for any parent to have to go through. ... The families who don't have the income to do that, the children are the ones that are getting hurt.''

But alongside the threat of cuts, parents such as Allen feel a sense of betrayal. Schwarzenegger has earned a reputation for service to the disabled and has been an active volunteer with the Special Olympics - founded by his mother-in-law, Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

Gary Spindt, who has worked with the group's Santa Clarita chapter, recalled attending the Special Olympics World Summer Games this year in Dublin, Ireland. Some 700 athletes there were clamoring to meet Schwarzenegger, he said.

``I feel rather like he's betraying those people,'' said Spindt, whose 21-year-old daughter Janelle is a Special Olympian diagnosed with mental retardation. ``I would like to know what the Shriver family thinks about this.''

Still, pulling California out of the red must remain a top priority despite some painful belt-tightening, said Sollitto, the governor's deputy press secretary.

``If we don't put the state back on sound financial footing, we cannot provide any kind of service for anyone,'' he said. ``The governor has said a bankrupt California can't provide any services to anyone.''

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) ``You're kind of in a bottle all the time,'' said mother Sherlene Allen, 39, of Valencia. ``That anxiety level all the time is very intense.''

- Sherlene Allen

Who works with her son Trevor, 4

(2 -- color) Sherlene Allen works with her son Trevor, 4, who suffers from autism.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer