California Disability Advocates Call for an 8% Rate Increase
There’s an old adage in the advocacy community that states “if you’re not at the table you’re on the menu.” It’s critically important in this age of stagnant disability services rates and increases in state and federal unfunded mandates that all advocates speak out loudly and clearly that our elected officials in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. must prioritize people with disabilities.In this blog series, I will be sharing some of the most pressing policy and advocacy issues that affect the individuals we serve, our organization, and the national conversation about disabilities and disability services. Well-armed with this information, I encourage you to get off the sidelines and be at the table and work to create a system in which everyone can pursue their dreams and lead a life without limits. Click here for more Policy and Advocacy News from UCPLA. We can start right here in California, where disability advocates are calling for an 8% rate increase for services.
More than 350,000 Californians with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD) rely on a state disability service system that helps them lead the lives they want in their community. However, that system is in crisis due to gross underfunding. The California legislature has requested that a ID/DD rate study be concluded by March, 2019. However, a coalition of California disability advocates, including UCP California Collaborative, contend that immediate action is needed this year to begin fixing this system in crisis.
In 2019 alone, more than 15,000 additional Californians with ID/DD are expected to seek community-based disability supports. At a time in which the demand for ID/DD services is increasing, the system capacity to support people with ID/DD is shrinking due to the direct support professional (DSP) workforce crisis as DSPs are leaving the field or working multiple jobs due to wages near or below the poverty level. As a result of the workforce crisis, service providers are closing essential programs throughout California forcing people with disabilities to live with inadequate supports or no supports at all.
A statewide survey of California DSPs illustrate troubling trends: 42% of respondents have children on Medi-Cal; 36% are on Medi-Cal themselves; 20% receive public food assistance; 34% work twenty hours or more at second jobs.
Responses from ID/DD service providers are no less troubling: 45% are turning away or placing individuals on waiting lists who have been referred by Regional Centers; 49% report reducing program capacity or closing programs due to funding deficits; 67% have eliminated or reduced employee qualifications in an effort to maintain sufficient staff to serve people who need supports.
Throughout the state, 928 services settings closed due to insufficient funding resulting in system capacity reduction for 4,803 people. And, 94 employment and day programs closed adversely impacting 4,999 people. This crisis will only get worse
as new Federal regulations require greater community integration, more employment opportunities, and costlier and more complex supports for people with ID/DD by 2022. This will add costs on an already underfunded system.
All self-advocates, advocates, and any stakeholder who support a quality and sustainable ID/DD support system, are urged to contact Governor Newsom and the California legislature to request inclusion of an 8% across-the-board ID/DD rate increase in the FY2019-2020 State budget. This increase is needed as a down-payment on implementation of the rate study, to begin stabilizing the ID/DD system and to acknowledge the rising cost of providing services to some of California’s most vulnerable citizens.
– Lori Anderson, President and CEO