Save Our Choice: Protect Self-Directed Supports in Missouri

Please do what makes sense look at the numbers.

The budget cuts will effect my family in the worst way. My daughter is 7 & is disabled from a stroke at birth. She is verbal & is a typical little girl. Other than being in a wheelchair and being delayed, she wants to be like everyone else. We were just approved for the Sarah Lopez Waiver which would allow us to hire an aide to help us with her daily care. How will I be able to hire someone reliable & trustworthy for such little wage? How could anyone think of cutting funds for the disabled? It truly doesnt make sense. Please find it in your heart to cut funds somewhere else. Myself along with thousands of other moms to medically complex kids are constantly fighting & living one day to the next fearing what will Missouri cut next. Please stop making our lives harder & help our less fortunate kids who we love & choose to take care of at home. Thank you for your time reading this & I hope you find it in your heart to do the right thing.

Please keep this going!!!

It’s cheaper to pay the family than putting them in a home.

I am a parent of a special needs adult that requires our 24/7 care. I am his primary care provider and it will be detrimental to our family like so many other if these cuts happen.

Please do not cut these jobs. With AI taking over everything, it is near impossible to find a job these days.

This is so important to so many people

We. Need our SDS employees. We need to keep our love ones in the home where we can monitor and they are with people that really care for them

Please do not get rid of the funding. My autistic sister will be dramatically effected in a negative way if you do.

Please protect he SDS lifeline that so many desperately need

These cuts are directly related to a personal friends job. These jobs are in place for a very good reason and operate off a restricted budget as it is.

To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to express my deep concern and absolute opposition to the proposed budget cuts to Missouri’s Self-Directed Services (SDS). I am addressing you as a paid caregiver and a family member. Our family’s situation is unique in that my husband and I became my adult sister’s primary caregivers in the fall of 2022 after my parents were no longer able to care for her in the same capacity. I had been her SDS caregiver prior to this, however, once she started living with us everything beyond my 40 hours per week were natural (unpaid) supports to her. We took on everything in regard to her care: medical support, financial support, behavioral and emotional support, and all of her day-to-day life. On top of this we have two of our own children we are raising. The SDS funds that pay my wages allow me to be able to provide full time care for my sister, plus support her AND my family. The proposed budget cuts would drastically decrease my income. So much so that it would not even be a living wage if I were single let alone a mother of two. Caregivers who are paid through SDS funds are already not offered any form of benefits; how does this seem even remotely ethical to cut wages so significantly? If the proposed budget cuts that I have been reading about do in fact go through, I will no longer be able to care for my sister. I will have no choice but to find alternative employment in order for my family to survive. This will mean that my sister no longer has a caregiver. We literally do not know what we are going to do if this happens. The idea that Missouri would cut these critical services is not only unwarranted, it is unlawful, dangerous, and inhumane. These decisions are being made without any genuine consideration for the real-life consequences they will have on vulnerable individuals. For many, my family included, SDS is the only safeguard preventing our loved ones with disabilities from being forced into unsafe placements. When m

I am a Medical Personal Assistant. These budget cuts mean I may not be able to afford working for Self-Direct. The health and safety of every person enrolled in this program will suffer.

I use this service 24/7 as I am 100% physically disabled. This budget cut would mean sacrificing my health and safety.

You cannot claim to be pro-life and only defend life at birth. You cannot claim to follow Christ while stripping services from the disabled, the poor, and the vulnerable. You cannot claim to be fiscally conservative while supporting systems that cost more and produce worse outcomes—like institutionalization instead of community support.

Please protect our children and adults that need this care!

I am from Independence in Jackson County. I am asking that you please keep all funding at current levels. Cuts will severely impact my son, who is profoundly disabled. He has nonverbal autism and intellectual disabilities. His intellectual capacity is that of a five year old. He is unable to speak, read, nor write. Troy requires assistance in toileting, bathing, dressing, and brushing his teeth. He needs help with medication. He needs someone to prepare meals and ensure the temperature is ok and cut food into manageable portions. He needs help getting exercise and interaction in the community. I currently do all of these things for him. I am going to be 61 this year and I am disabled. It is becoming very difficult to do all of these things by myself. We have applied for SDS and a PA. If you cut the budget, we will not get this. We applied for the SDS and PA to keep him out of an ISL and home for as many more years as possible. He is my life. I can’t imagine my life without him here with me, and I know he feels the same. I need more time with him. I lost one child to a car accident. Somehow, putting him in an ISL feels just as painful. Please don’t take the chance to keep him here home with me away from us by cutting the budget. We need each other. Obviously, with me being 61 and disabled, and Troy being only 21, without help, he will need to go to an ISL. With a PA and SDS it could be extended to years before he needs to go to an ISL. The best possible outcome for Troy and the state. The state does not have the available ISL’s and financially it makes more sense. Please take this into consideration when you make your decision. Thank you for allowing me to tell you our story

My son doesn’t do well in groups. He won’t do well in a state funded facility. It’s a lot cheaper for you guys if we can keep him at home

Please don't cut funds

Thank you!!