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Families and providers urge more HCBS flexibility and higher pay for direct support professionals as DDDS seeks FY26 funds for community placements
Summary
The Division of Developmental Disability Services described FY26 door-opener funding to help graduates and people who can no longer live with family access community-based services. Parents, providers and advocates urged lawmakers to increase funding, create flexible housing uses of HCBS dollars and pay direct support professionals a living wage.
The Division of Developmental Disability Services (DDDS) presented its fiscal year 2026 governor's recommended budget to the Joint Finance Committee and described targeted "door-opener" investments intended to help school graduates access community-based services and to support people who can no longer live with family members.
Director remarks and budget highlights: DDDS officials said the FY26 budget includes funding intended to expand community placements and to maintain rate increases put in place last year to align provider wages with the state's new minimum wage until a comprehensive rate study is completed. The division noted recent state-federal matches the division uses to leverage Medicaid dollars for workforce and home-based supports.
From public comment: a steady stream of families, day-program directors and provider executives told the committee they face a workforce and housing crisis for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). - Parents described adult children who need 24/7 care, who cannot safely live alone, and who will need residential placements when parents age out of caregiving. Speakers asked lawmakers to allow more flexibility in using Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver funds for housing and to add and protect "door-opener" funds so clients can access supported employment, day habilitation and residential programs. - Providers and coalition leaders including Easterseals, CHIMES, Forward Journey and the Ability Network asked legislators to direct provider-tax or Medicaid growth dollars toward existing underfunded services before adding new program lines, and to ensure rate-study results translate into sustainable reimbursement. Several organizations cited elevated DSP turnover (reported turnover rates above 30 percent in provider figures) and urged a livable wage for direct support professionals.
Committee queries and director responses: lawmakers asked for details about how many people would be served by the $8 million (door-opener/residential placement) figure the director cited and requested breakdowns of service types; the director offered to provide more detailed counts and to deliver the rate-study timeline (the division said it launched a new comprehensive rate study with a vendor and expected results later in the summer).
Why it matters: parents said the current mix of services leaves many adults with IDD dependent on aging caregivers, and they asked the committee to prioritize housing and DSP compensation to avoid crises that can drive institutional placements and higher long-term costs.
Ending: DDDS and advocates agreed to follow up with the committee on exact counts of graduates who will need services, the outcomes of the rate study, and potential policy options to allow waiver dollars to support more flexible housing options for adults with IDD.
