New Jersey

NJ disability program faces $3M cut in proposed budget. Advocates call it ‘devastating’

Published

1 year ago

April 1, 2025

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NJ disability program faces M cut in proposed budget. Advocates call it ‘devastating’

New Jersey’s Centers for Independent Living, which provide services to people with disabilities, face a proposed $3 million budget cut.
Disability advocates argue that the cuts would severely affect the centers’ ability to offer essential services like job training and accessible housing assistance.
Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration says “belt-tightening” is necessary as the state faces fiscal challenges.

Disability advocates across the state are calling on lawmakers to reverse a proposed $3 million cut to New Jersey’s Centers for Independent Living, which assist with job training and other resources for thousands of clients.

“This is a devastating setback to the disability community,” said Donald Campbell, executive director of the Atlantic Center for Independent Living in Galloway. “CILs are not just service providers — they’re lifelines. They help people get out of bed in the morning, find accessible housing, secure jobs and transition out of institutions.”

The cuts in Gov. Phil Murphy’s budget proposal would amount to a 45% reduction in the centers’ $6.7 million operating budget, which relies on both state and federal dollars, said Carmela Slivinski, who directs the DAWN Center for Independent Living in Denville.

New Jersey has 12 Centers for Independent Living, all run by nonprofit groups that serve the state’s 21 counties. The programs offer services designed to help people with disabilities live more independently and participate in society, supporters said.

Murphy’s $58.1 billion budget plan, introduced in February, must still pass through the state Legislature, where lawmakers are likely to make changes. His fiscal blueprint includes more spending for tax relief and school funding, but it’s also being crafted as Republicans in Washington contemplate deep cuts to Medicaid and other programs that fund state services.

Maggie Garbarino, Murphy’s deputy press secretary, said “some belt-tightening” was necessary to protect the state’s long-term priorities. As a result, the proposed budget eliminates most of the direct grants that were awarded without competition last year, and it significantly reduces funding for many older grants, she said.

Questions to Murphy’s office on whether the administration planned alternative support for the centers and how it weighed the potential loss of services went unanswered.

The only option for some with disabilities

The centers serve clients of all ages and types of disabilities and are often the only option for people who acquire a disability later in life, such as from a car accident or stroke, Slivinksi said. Those people often don’t qualify for programs like those offered by the state’s Division of Developmental Disabilities.

Customers can connect with services that make homes accessible, find transportation options and offer employment training. Often the help comes from peers — 51% of CIL employees also have a disability. In 2023, the programs helped 7,800 people statewide, said Marily Gonzalez, CEO of the Heightened Independence and Progress Center in Hackensack.

Center directors said their offices play a unique role in helping people navigate fragmented benefit systems and access lesser-known resources, such as foundations that can help pay for wheelchairs when insurance won’t pay.

“These individuals have needs, but no programs are designed for them,” said Slivinski. “We’re often the only place they can turn to.”

CILs have always operated with limited resources, she added. “I’ve been with my center for 26 years now, and I don’t remember a day when we weren’t fighting for additional resources,” she said.

State funding enabled Slivinski’s DAWN Center for Independent Living to hire two staff members and buy a car. The center created a mobile office that goes to the rural areas of Sussex and Warren counties to help people who have a hard time reaching more populated areas.

“We meet people where they’re at,” she said. Without the money, “that’s going to go away.”

The newer employees at Slivinski’s center won’t be the only ones to lose their jobs. At the Heightened Independence and Progress Center, which serves Bergen and Hudson counties, the cut could affect over 30 positions, many held by people with disabilities, Gonzalez said.

Slivinski said she understands that budgets are tight, but the amount in question is small in the context of state spending, she argued.

Murphy wants to ‘leave the state flush’

“It’s a drop in the bucket for the state,” she said. Still, she said, “some of the smaller centers will not be able to survive this,” she said.

Slivinski recently met with representatives of Murphy’s office to explain the scope of CIL services and was told the proposed cut was part of a sweep of discretionary appropriations aimed at reducing the size of the budget.

“We were told the governor had wanted to leave the state flush, and all of the funding that was considered discretionary funding, like an appropriation through the Legislature, was wiped away,” she said.

The CILs have since been meeting with legislators, including members of the Assembly Budget Committee and the Legislature’s Disability Caucus, in hopes of getting the money reinstated.

A message to state Assemblywoman Ellen Park, a Bergen County Democrat and vice chairwoman of the chamber’s Budget Committee, wasn’t immediately returned.

Both Campbell and Slivinski said the consequences of the funding cut would go beyond lost programs. The centers play a crucial role in helping people with disabilities remain in their communities, avoiding costly and often inappropriate institutional care, they said.

“When the funding disappears, the services disappear — and with them, our independence,” Campbell said.

He urged residents to contact legislators and ask for the funding to be restored.

“The cure for despair is action,” he said.

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New Jersey

Nightmare at NY Penn as train fire halts NJ Transit, Amtrak service for hours

Published

8 hours ago

May 29, 2026

Press Room

Nightmare at NY Penn as train fire halts NJ Transit, Amtrak service for hours

New Jersey and New York City commuters are facing extensive delays in and out of New York Penn Station Friday, with intensifying ripple effects, after an Amtrak work train car on one of the hub’s tracks caught fire.

The FDNY says it was called to the Midtown scene on 31st Street, between Seventh and Eighth avenues, around 1:30 a.m. Nearly 100 personnel responded. Five civilians were evaluated at the scene by EMS, officials say.

It’s not clear what sparked the fire involving Amtrak’s contractor maintenance vehicles in one of the Hudson River Tunnels. It was knocked down well before 6 a.m., but service on New Jersey Transit, Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road and more was expected to see heavy impacts well into the morning rush, with Hudson River trains operating at reduced capacity. Amtrak said it didn’t expect to lift its suspension until at least noon.

Travel Advisory: Due to unforeseen track and signal maintenance resulting from a now extinguished fire in the New York area, all services traveling south of New York (NYP) are temporarily suspended. This suspension is anticipated to be in place until noon at a minimum. Services…
— Amtrak Northeast (@AmtrakNECAlerts) May 29, 2026
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New Jersey Transit and LIRR also announced delays and cancellations. Cross-honoring and diversion programs were in effect as the situation developed. Complete LIRR service at NY Penn had resumed by around 7 a.m., Friday said, though equipment issues were causing cancellations. Get the latest transit information here.

Video from outside Penn Station showed smoke billowing in the pre-dawn hours, as emergency personnel stood by with stretchers awaiting any potential victims.

Amtrak is investigating the cause of the fire.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may cause,” the agency’s latest announcement said, pledging to provide updates as new information becomes available.

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New Jersey

Violence reported at Delaney Hall in N.J. Calls to shut it down are growing

Published

20 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Press Room

Violence reported at Delaney Hall in N.J. Calls to shut it down are growing

How are detainees at Delaney Hall being treated?

A statement issued by DHS said detainees receive comprehensive medical care and all are treated well.

“They are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries. Illegal aliens also have access to phones to communicate with their family members and lawyers. Certified dieticians evaluate meals,” the department wrote.

The release accused Sherrill, Booker and U.S. Sen Andy Kim, as well as U.S. Reps. Rob Menendez, Nellie Pou, LaMonica McIver, Frank Pallone and Analilia Majia, of continuing “to peddle falsehoods about ICE facilities,” and “spreading smears about ICE law enforcement and the Delaney Hall ICE facility in New Jersey.”

Sinha said the assertion that individuals being arrested and taken to Delaney Hall are dangerous criminals is false.

“This is an administration that has repeatedly lied to us about what’s going on in immigration enforcement and immigration detention facilities,” Sinha said.

He added while Sherrill does not have the legal authority to enter Delaney Hall unannounced, that fact that she was denied entry is concerning.

“The federal government has denied her repeatedly, and it makes you question, ‘What is the federal government trying to hide?’” he asked. “They have no allegiance to any rule of law or semblance of democracy; they’re trying to rewrite the Constitution for people who are noncitizens.”

On Thursday, Sherrill issued a statement saying the New Jersey Department of Health attempted to conduct a inspection of Delaney Hall, but officials were only allowed to inspect only a limited part of the facility.

“We will review and share the department’s findings from the limited portion it was allowed to inspect, and we will continue to pursue all appropriate avenues for demanding transparency and ensuring humane conditions for the individuals being held at the facility,” she said in the statement. “As I’ve said repeatedly, refusing to provide full access raises serious questions about what ICE is trying to hide from public view.”

Sinha said a hunger strike among those inside the facility is continuing because they are being given spoiled food and inadequate medical care in deplorable conditions.

“People shouldn’t have to starve themselves to make their dignity known; people shouldn’t have to starve themselves to have their rights protected, but that’s what’s happening here,” he said.

Reports of escalating violence

Late Thursday afternoon there were reports of violence escalating within Delaney Hall.

Nedia Morsy, the director of Make the Road New Jersey, an immigration advocacy group, issued a statement saying multiple sources within the facility reported ICE agents attacking detainees and causing serious injuries.

“Right now there are ICE agents inside of Delaney Hall violently beating the hunger strikers,” Morsy said in the statement. “Someone will be killed if no one intervenes and shuts this down. These masked agents are acting as if they’re above the law. This is a modern-day concentration camp, and history will not forgive silence in this moment. We need to shut down Delaney Hall and free everyone inside.”

Resistencia en Accion, another immigrant rights group, also released a statement, calling for violence against detainees to end.

“We express our utmost disgust with the violence perpetrated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents today, May 28. Reports at approximately 1:40 p.m. reveal that ICE agents attacked the hunger strikers inside with batons and tear gas. Family members outside received calls from inside, confirming that there were people screaming, and according to their loved ones inside, unconscious detainees and blood on surfaces. ICE is the sole responsible actor for the escalation that has led to several wounded people inside and outside this week,” the statement reads.

WHYY News reached out to DHS late Thursday seeking comment about the reports of violence at Delaney Hall. A written statement was emailed to WHYY that said ICE agents had responded to a physical altercation involving detainees.

“In accordance with established ICE policies and their training, staff used the minimum amount of force to safely deescalate the situation,” DHS wrote. “Following the incident, all affected detainees were promptly evaluated by on-site medical personnel and were cleared with no serious injuries.”

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