State Agency Told Disabled It Had No Money While Building $34 Million Surplus

For more than two years, Heidi Berlin and her husband, Dan, have fought state bureaucracy while seeking help for their developmentally disabled son.

And for more than two years, officials have told the Edgewater couple there isn't enough money in state coffers.

So the Berlins were shocked to learn this month that over the past two years the Developmental Disabilities Administration hadn't spent at least $34 million intended to help people with disabilities - and actually returned more than $25 million to the state's General Fund.

"We live in a very depressing world," Heidi Berlin said Thursday morning after a particularly long night caring for her 4-year-old son, Adam. "But this was a real slap in the face. ... They could have helped us, but they gave the money away."

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