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More than 300 people attended a Midtown rally Friday that was meant to put a "human face" to the growing list of service and funding cuts announced by the state Department of Economic Security.

The most recent cuts announced by DES include a $1.6 million appropriation from the state to the Arizona Early Intervention Program, as well as the elimination of so-called "state-only" services for children with developmental disabilities who don't qualify for federal funding.

Those reductions come on top of previously announced cuts to DES assisted-living services, substance-abuse programs, child-care subsidies and homeless shelters.

The agency says it has been forced to make more than $150 million in cuts in the wake of the state's $1.6 billion budget shortfall, as lawmakers slashed funding to everything from education to state park operations.

Friday's rally, at Child & Family Resources, 2800 E. Broadway, was organized by state Sens. Paula Aboud and Linda Lopez, two Tucson Democrats who spent as much time lambasting the Republican-led Legislature's deficit plan as they did hearing the cries of those the plan affected most.

Advocates say the DES cuts would leave thousands of people without vital services. Local positions already have been cut, and advocates say they don't know where some former clients will go for help now.

"It's immoral to immediately stop (treatment) to a 2-year-old boy who is getting better each day," Eric Schindler, CEO of the non-profit Child & Family Resources Inc., told a room filled with single mothers, many of whom were toting children with developmental disabilities. "The mission and the work that we do, . . . it's so important."

Though the Early Intervention Program also receives federal funding, Schindler said the state cut to that program will cause about 850 children under the age of 3 to lose most or all of their access to speech therapy and other services.

That program also will stop screening all infants and toddlers who are referred to it for possible developmental delays.

"This program provides families with the tools they need to give their child the chance to put their best foot forward," said Rebecca Chapman, whose 3-year-old daughter, Trinity Quintero, has received help through the Early Intervention Program since she was 5 months old. "Having a child with special needs is hard enough; without this program, it's even harder."

The DES cuts will lead to a double hit to Brooke Myers, a support coordinator with local non-profit Desert Survivors. Myers said she was told Friday that she was being laid off.

Not only was Myers' job funded by DES' Division of Developmental Disabilities — which is being forced to reduce provider rates to 850 agency and 3,500 independent providers of home- and community-based services — so, too, are the support programs she relies on for help with her 11-month-old daughter, Emily.

Myers said Emily has TAR syndrome, which caused her to be born without radius bones in her arms and requires her to undergo lifesaving platelet transfusions every 10 days.

"I never thought these things would be eliminated," Myers said. "I never thought, morally, such a thing would even be considered."

Aboud said state Democrats are planning to hold a news conference Tuesday in Phoenix to present a series of measures — including usage of expected federal stimulus-package funds — that could potentially reverse some budget cuts.

"There are ways to deal with the deficit that do not deal solely with slashing," Lopez said. "It's not that there's extra money out there, but there are things that we can do."