Devastating, drastic and depressing.

Those are just a few of the words that come to Andrew Latta's mind when he considers the life his mentally disabled sister could face if a series of rumoured provincial budget cuts take effect in group homes across B.C.

Andrew's 48-year-old sister Susan has Down syndrome and other challenges related to her ability to communicate. She's lived in a supported group home on Rochester Avenue in Coquitlam for almost 20 years, and it's through that setting that she's made tangible strides towards successfully integrating into the community.

However, Andrew and others in his family fear that those tenets of independence, trust and comfort will disappear should a series of provincial funding cuts close down the home Susan and two others live in.

"Susan's been living there for almost 20 years; she's very, very happy, very well served and she wouldn't be doing as well as she would without the services and supports that she's getting," he told The NOW. "What the government is about to do is kick her out of her home, take away all those services -- and it's going to be devastating to her life."

Andrew was reacting to news that Community Living BC (CLBC) is in the process of conducting a "service level redesign," meant to address a six-per-cent growth in demand for services this year.

"Redesigning service delivery to be cost-effective is prudent, because it effectively manages our resources to ensure our system of supports is sustainable," said a rep from the Ministry of Housing and Social Development who requested anonymity. "The community living sector has shifted from housing people with developmental disabilities in institutions and isolation towards including people in [the] community. CLBC service providers agreed to work with CLBC to identify individuals we currently support who may be able to live more independently or who could be supported more effectively in another setting."

The NDP takes a different perspective. The party's critic for housing and social development suggested Monday that the redesign is simply a cost-cutting move meant to shave $22 million from the CLBC budget.

"Families are worried for their loved ones," Shane Simpson, MLA for Vancouver-Hastings, said in a press release. "Everyone deserves a safe and welcoming home. But now people with disabilities are being forced from their homes, and some of the most vulnerable people in our communities are having to pay the price for the BC Liberals' broken promises."

The home Susan lives in is run by the Simon Fraser Society for Community Living, a non-profit organization that's served everyone from infants to seniors from the Tri-Cities and New Westminster for more than 50 years.

When contacted by The NOW, the society's executive director could neither confirm nor deny whether the Rochester home is being shut down, or whether any of the society's clients will be displaced.

"That's a question that will be answered over what we hope will be a longer period of time as we engage in conversation with our funders, the families and the individuals," said society executive director Christine Scott, who was scheduled to be in meetings with CLBC reps throughout Tuesday to get more clarity on the issue.

Andrew said the funding allotment his sister traditionally received was more than $8,000 per month, though those portions have recently been reduced to $1,779. That means she can no longer stay in her home of choice, and she'll be placed in foster care instead.

"She's going to lose all her social support, she's going to lose all her emotional support and she's not going to get the service and support she needs: the medication she needs, the doctors appointments, getting out into the community," he said. "She's going to become a prisoner of her bedroom and isolated. She's going to become withdrawn and depressed. It's going to be a nightmare."

Adding insult to injury is the timeline attached to Susan's impending move. Her family has been told by the province that she'll have to be out of the Coquitlam home and into foster care by November, although her family members have been advised by those in the health-care field that such a move could take up to a year to successfully complete.

"I'm her older brother. I've known her for her entire 48 years. I see what goes into supporting her, and I see how fragile her success is," Andrew said. "So if you take away her supports, you throw them to the wolves and start bouncing these people around in foster care, this is going to do irreparable damage."

Simon Fraser Society for Community Living's Scott also expressed concerns.

"We're concerned a little bit about timeline," she said, "and that the timelines are responsible and that good process be followed."

jkurucz@thenownews.com