Leah Tran had no idea what respite care was. Until a year ago, she didn't know she was entitled to have a nurse come into her home and, for a few hours a week, take over the care of her critically ill 3-year-old daughter. Strained by state budget cuts, the Regional Center of Orange County has to slash spending by $3.2 million this year, so it asked disabled people and their families to voluntarily give up services that are hardly luxuries: Reduce the number of diapers used by children whose brain damage might never allow them to be potty-trained. Get less help regaining the use of muscles atrophied after a car accident. Receive fewer breaks from the round-the-clock job of caring for a critically ill child.
