For decades, New York state has not made adequate investments to sustain the essential programs and services people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) rely on. This systemic underfunding has driven us into a critical staffing crisis and eroded the core of New York’s system of supports for its citizens with I/DD.

• We need support for a 7.8% Medicaid rate increase that truly reflects the cost of care. This means that every aspect of care, staff, housing, food, transportation, and more, receives the necessary resources to support the whole person.
• We need to identify the gross disparity in pay between state-operations and non-profit providers.
• We need to be included in and have access to capital funding, which supports the demands of aging facilities and does so in a manner that supports climate goals and lowers costs of operation.

Within the Executive Budget we are calling for:

1. Investment in I/DD services through a 7.8% Medicaid rate increase to stabilize non-profit provider agencies.
2. Creation of a Wage Commission to examine the roles and responsibilities of human service workers and establish fair, sustainable compensation standards commensurate with that work.
3. Enhanced Capital Funding to help agencies modernize their operations, making them more energy-efficient and in alignment with the state’s climate goals.

These are more than just budget requests, they are a commitment to providing the stable care system that people with I/DD deserve.

Advocate Here!

The Ask 

Contact your Senators and Representative today and urge them to reject any proposals that reduce federal Medicaid funding. Cuts to Medicaid would threaten critical home and community-based services (HCBS) for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).

The Details

Congressional leaders are discussing proposals that could significantly reduce Medicaid funding, including per-capita caps, reducing the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) floor, and rescinding enhanced funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). While these ideas are still in the early stages and remain undefined, they pose serious risks to services for individuals with I/DD.

Cuts to Medicaid could fundamentally change the program’s structure, shifting costs to states and jeopardizing access to HCBS. This could lead to longer waitlists, fewer available services, and higher rates of institutionalization—placing immense strain on individuals, families, and providers.

Advocate Here! 

For decades, New York state has not made adequate investments to sustain the essential programs and services people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) rely on. This systemic underfunding has driven us into a critical staffing crisis and eroded the core of New York’s system of supports for its citizens with I/DD.

We need support for a 7.8% Medicaid rate increase that truly reflects the cost of care. This means that every aspect of care, staff, housing, food, transportation, and more, receives the necessary resources to support the whole person.

We need to identify the gross disparity in pay between state-operations and non-profit providers.

We need to be included in and have access to capital funding, which supports the demands of aging facilities and does so in a manner that supports climate goals and lowers costs of operation.

Within the Executive Budget we are calling for:

• Investment in I/DD services through a 7.8% Medicaid rate increase to stabilize non-profit provider agencies.
• Creation of a Wage Commission to examine the roles and responsibilities of human service workers and establish fair, sustainable compensation standards commensurate with that work.
• Enhanced Capital Funding to help agencies modernize their operations, making them more energy-efficient and in alignment with the state’s climate goals.

These are more than just budget requests, they are a commitment to providing the stable care system that people with I/DD deserve.

Advocate Here!

Our friends at The Arc New York have updated their online advocacy campaign tool with new information. Here’s the latest:

The Senate and Assembly provided more funding in their proposed budgets than the Governor did in her proposed spending plan, but none of them have provided both of the things disability service providers are seeking in the 2024-25 NYS budget:

· A 3.2% Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) with language that does not overly restrict how funds must be allocated
· A Direct Support Wage Enhancement (DSWE)

Please click the link below – today and every day – to advocate for more funding for people with disabilities and their support staff. It literally takes less than a minutes. Every click matters!

Advocate Here!

NY State Budget update:

• Disability service providers like The Resource Center are requesting a 3.2% COLA (cost-of-living adjustment) in the 2024-25 Budget.
• Governor Hochul’s Budget proposal only includes a 1.5% COLA.
• The Senate and the Assembly each included the 3.2% COLA in their proposed Budgets.  We are grateful to the Senate and House for including the 3.2% COLA!
• However, the House and Senate Budget proposal limits the COLA to only covering wages and salaries.  We need the COLA to also cover the other costs of doing business (health insurance, electricity, food, gasoline, maintenance, heat, mandatory insurances, etc.).
• Leaders in the Senate and Assembly have begun negotiating with Governor Hochul to finalize the State’s 2024-25 Budget.

Please take a few minutes to use the link below and send a message to our Senate and Assembly representatives.  The message was prepared by the NYS Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare.  While the message specifically mentions “3.2% COLA for Mental Health and Addiction Agencies,” the COLA also applies to agencies that support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Advocate Here!

In her Executive Budget address, Governor Hochul pointedly acknowledged years of “neglect and disinvestment” in New York’s system of supports and services for New Yorkers with I/DD. She committed to reversing that neglect. However, the proposed 1.5% COLA committed to voluntary providers falls short of correcting the course and does not even compensate for the year’s inflation.  

For decades, New York state has not made adequate investments to sustain the essential programs and services people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) rely on. This systemic underfunding has driven us into a critical staffing crisis and eroded New York’s system of supports for its citizens with I/DD. The data speaks for itself:

• Average statewide staff turnover rate is 31%
• Turnover costs for non-profit providers have risen to more than $100 million annually
• Nearly 20,000 critical Direct Support positions are vacant statewide
• A 17% staff vacancy rate means New Yorkers with disabilities are missing out on needed care and support

Now we must tell our legislators to respond, by including our budget requests in their respective one-house budget bills. Our goals are twofold:

• Include the statutory 3.2% Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) – the legislature needs to add 1.7% to make this happen
• Establish a Direct Support Wage Enhancement (DSWE) to make up for years of underinvestment

Advocate Here!

Advocate Here!

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) leverage the services of direct support professionals (DSPs) in order to live and work in their homes and communities. However, low wages due to stagnant reimbursement rates have led to high turnover and vacancy rates in the DSP workforce. The loss of DSPs across the field has left many people without stable access to home- and community-based supports.

Because we need data to understand the scope of the workforce crisis before we can fully solve the problem, the creation of a standard occupational classification (SOC) for DSPs is foundational to ensuring people with I/DD have access to critical supports and services. A unique SOC for DSPs would help states and the federal government collect data on demographics and turnover rates. This, in turn, will help inform policies to address the workforce shortage. A DSP SOC will also help states more accurately set rates, which could positively impact DSP wages.

Tell your members of Congress today to support the bipartisan “Recognizing the Role of Direct Support Professionals Act” (H.R. 2941 / S. 1332), which requires the Office of Management and Budget to consider a separate category within the Standard Occupational Classification system for DSPs.

Take Action Now!

People with disabilities rely on Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) to live independently in their communities. HCBS help people with disabilities with everyday support, like getting around the community, employment supports, dressing, bathing, taking medication, and much more!

But due to the fact that Medicaid must fund institutions, and home and community-based services are optional, states don’t have the funding to support everyone in the community. This means that:

• Over 650,000 people are stuck on waiting lists,
• Direct care workers are underpaid due to stagnant wages, and
• Too often unpaid family caregivers are filling in the gaps in service – it’s a crisis! 

We need Congress to take action NOW.

Tell your members of Congress to support the HCBS Relief Act, which will mandate these supports and services in Medicaid—because #CareCantWait!

Take Action Here!