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Committee considers repeal of DDA’s Community Protection Program, transition plan required
Summary
Lawmakers and advocates told the Senate Human Services Committee the Community Protection Program has been coercive and difficult to exit; the bill would repeal the program and require DDA to transition participants to other waivers by the end of 2025.
The Senate Human Services Committee reviewed Substitute House Bill 13-90 on March 24, which would eliminate the Developmental Disabilities Administration’s (DDA) Community Protection Program (CPP) and require DDA to develop a transition plan to move participants into less restrictive waiver services by Dec. 31, 2025. The bill would take effect Jan. 1, 2026.
Will Tronson, committee staff, summarized the program and the bill’s requirements. “If a person refuses to participate in the community protection program, then the only services available for that person are case management and personal care services,” Tronson said. The bill directs DDA to obtain less restrictive service options and prepare a transition plan for individuals in CPP.
Representative Roger Goodman, the prime sponsor and chair of the House Community Safety Committee, recounted the program’s history and criticized its coercive features. Goodman cited a 2006 formalization of the program and a later ombuds report titled No Way Out, which he said found the CPP “overly coercive” and not person-centered. Goodman said fewer than 20 percent of current participants have ever been convicted of a crime.
DDA officials told the committee the proposal came at the governor’s direction. Destiny Buzzard, Community Protection Program manager at DDA, said the program is Medicaid-funded and voluntary but that the statutory structure had created conflicts with federal funding requirements and limited participants’ choices. “We’ve developed a formalized plan that will transition individuals to our core waiver, including residential habilitation and life skills training in addition to other services,” Buzzard said.
The Office of the Developmental Disabilities Ombuds supported repeal. Noah Seidel, representing the ombuds office, cited the 2021 report No Way Out and told the committee the program had been difficult to exit and lacked clear paths to less restrictive services.
Self-advocates, family members and disability advocates also testified in favor of repeal, telling the committee the program can place severe restrictions on participants’ rights and that some people referred as young adults had insufficient access to supports prior to enrollment.
The bill would not remove court-ordered requirements tied to the Community Protection Act of 1990 or other criminal-court restrictions. DDA testified that the administration’s proposal includes person-centered evaluation of any restrictions and a plan to preserve necessary supports while moving individuals into standard waiver services.
No formal vote was recorded during the hearing. Committee members asked clarifying questions about eligibility, conviction rates, and how DDA would ensure continuity of services during the transition period.
