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DDSN reports 286 people waiting for residential services, asks for recurring funds and startup grants
Summary
The Department of Disabilities and Special Needs told the Healthcare Subcommittee that 286 people had been determined to need out-of-home residential services as of Sept. 30, 2024, with an average wait of 10.6 months, and requested both recurring and nonrecurring state funds to expand capacity.
The Department of Disabilities and Special Needs told the Healthcare Subcommittee that demand for residential supports is high and that state funding is needed to place people who are ineligible for Medicaid or who require placements Medicaid will not fund.
Director Holloway, identified in testimony as the Director of DDSN, said the agency serves approximately 40,000 DDSN-eligible South Carolinians and that, as of Sept. 30, 2024, 286 people had been determined to need residential services but remained on a waiting list. “The average wait time for those services is 10.6 months,” Holloway said, and she added that 108 of the 286 had waited more than 12 months.
Holloway said the agency prioritizes keeping people in family and community settings when appropriate but that some individuals—often those with co-occurring severe mental illness or who present violent behaviors—require out-of-home placements that Medicaid does not cover or that are not appropriate under Medicaid rules (for example, certain judicially admitted patients). DDSN requested recurring funds to cover state-only residential placements and a $17,500,000 nonrecurring request intended to help providers build or renovate homes, purchase furniture and arrange transportation needed to open new residential capacity.
Holloway said the agency has piloted short-term respite beds at regional centers and had expanded those beds after initial success, but cautioned respite is not a substitute for long-term residential placement. She said private nonprofit providers have been more likely to open new homes when state startup funding is available.
Committee members asked about the per-day cost assumptions and the risk posed by federal funding changes. Holloway described an average per-day cost figure—roughly $529 per person per day—used in her calculation of recurring funding needs and said the state was monitoring federal guidance closely; she reported no immediate Medicaid funding disruptions but said some federal grants had experienced workforce impacts.
The subcommittee did not take formal action at the hearing.
