Tuesday, October 23, 2018

2019 Legislative Family Concerns

What we are hearing from families:

Equity: Services are not equitable across settings for the individual.

Community Capacity: Communities lack the capacity to meet the needs of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Customer Experience: Families are experiencing significant barriers within the DDA system, including inaccessibility, lack of transparency, lack of cultural competence, and challenges navigating the system.

Families need investments in the community in the following areas:

Increase the Basic Plus Waiver aggregate service amount from $6,000 to $10,000 a year and to amend the Basic Plus Waiver to add additional Specialized Habilitation and other services.

Additional Core Waiver slots for teens in behavior crisis and for senior families, and the continued support for automatic increases in the Basic Plus Waiver slots for high school graduates, and continue to monitor Non-Paid Services caseloads and plan for future growth as needed.

Develop strategies to improve the strategic crisis prevention intervention/stabilization systems for individuals with behavior issues that address the need for a zero reject model within the community. Create a workforce recruitment and retention plan that included a tiered rate system based on behavioral acuity.