The petition
We the families, community providers, support coordinators, advocates, and individuals with developmental disabilities of this state, urgently request the Florida Legislature to protect individuals with developmental disabilities and their families receiving DD waiver services from any further funding reductions. During the 2007 Regular session, legislation was passed to address deficits, increases in utilization, and serve people on the waiting list that is resulting in extensive service reductions, service eliminations, and capped services for individuals with developmental disabilities and families receiving DD Waiver services. Already this summer, 4,000 notices of service reductions and 9,500 notices of service eliminations have been sent to individual with developmental disabilities and families.
Special session was called to reduce a one billion dollar budget shortfall and budget reductions from all state agencies will be considered. Additional funding reductions to the DD waiver system will further jeopardize the health and safety of individuals with developmental disabilities.
• Individuals with developmental disabilities and families are already sustaining extensive service reductions and service eliminations. The full impact has started to be felt by individuals who may lose their home, their independence, their security and good health. The first phases of the service reductions and eliminations are particularly being felt by individuals living independently or with their families and the impact has not been fully calculated. Adding new reductions before the 2007 changes have been implemented could create undue burdens and chaos for individuals with disabilities who are still reeling from the changes that have just started to be measured.
• There is a risk of increased institutionalization or restrictive placements if the changes in law propel people into crisis.
• The federal government provides 56.83 cents of every dollar spent for DD Waiver services and therefore, for every dollar cut from the state DD waiver budget, individuals lose more than two dollars of services.
• Increased caseloads for support coordinators from 1:36 to 1:50 will result in less support coordination service available when needed. Alternatives --
o Increase utilization of limited support coordination where appropriate.
o Allow parents or consumers to perform support coordination functions at no charge.
• Shifting payment of PCA to state Medicaid plan under EPSDT is a credible option for funding this service, however, the provider infrastructure is not currently in place to provide PCA to all children with developmental disabilities. Without the State Medicaid Plan PCA providers, the children will not be able to receive the PCA services needed. This is a major system change that requires adequate time and planning.
• The recent interpretation of the regular session legislation is to require the reduction of Personal Care Assistance hours to 180 a month for even the individuals with the most intense needs. Additional hours may be authorized only after a substantial change in circumstance occurs. This will place many individuals with severe and complex developmental disabilities in dangerous and even crisis situations. An exception to the 180 hours of PCA needs to be provided that will allow for additional hours for those individuals whose health and safety will be jeopardized without first requiring that they experience a substantial change in circumstance, i.e., a crisis.
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