More than 200 people who depend on opportunities offered by a Wisconsin Rapids-based organization could lose their jobs starting next year because of a proposed policy change at the state level.

Opportunity Development Centers, which give people with disabilities employment opportunities, could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding, forcing the workers the organization serves to look for jobs elsewhere, ODC President Pam Ross said.

"It's definitely a debate, and people with significant disabilities are kind of caught in the middle right now," Ross said Thursday. "It will be devastating to ODC as an agency, because we provide so many other programs."

According to documents from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services that Ross supplied, the proposed policy change would put a time limit on how long people can participate in facility-based work programs such as ODC, which is one of more than 65 programs that could be affected throughout the state.

Also known as "prevocational services," such programs are designed to be a "stepping stone" to community-based employment, according to department documents.

Susan Crowley, administrator of the department's Division of Long Term Care, did not return voice mail messages left Thursday on her office and cell phones.

State Rep. Marlin Schneider, D-Wisconsin Rapids, said Democratic legislators discussed the proposed changes at length Wednesday in their caucus.

"I believe the concerns they have were driven by some misinformation, and these issues will be addressed," Schneider said. "One of the things we're looking at is whether or not the Department of Health Services is stuck by federal law or if the decision was made for budgetary reasons."

Wisconsin Rapids resident Elmer Bauch, 48, who has worked at ODC since 1995, said he didn't know what he would do if he couldn't continue at the organization.

"When I did not work here, it drove me nuts; I did nothing all day long," Bauch said. "If you're someone like me, ODC is a small treasure."

ODC employs 200 to 250 people in its facility-based programs in Wisconsin Rapids and Marshfield, and there likely would not be similar jobs in the community for everyone, Ross said. Other local companies rely on the work done at the centers, she said.

"Everybody agrees eventually you want to move some people out of these centers and into gainful employment, but there might not be jobs available," Schneider said. "For some, these centers might be a viable option."

"These are among the most vulnerable people out there, so we're not going to throw them onto the street."