Providers, families urge Legislature to close $558 million IDD funding gap

Members of the Joint Ways and Means Human Services Subcommittee opened a public hearing on Senate Bill 5526 and heard sweeping testimony that Oregon’s community-based intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) system lacks sufficient funding to sustain providers and the workforce that supports tens of thousands of people with IDD.

“By now, you've no doubt aware of the $558,000,000 gap in DD services funding,” said Alan Kress, executive director of Edwards Center, at the hearing. Kress and other nonprofit providers said the difference between current reimbursement rates and the legislatively directed 2024 rate study is forcing agencies to subsidize services, squeeze reserves and struggle to retain staff.

The funding gap has immediate workforce consequences, witnesses said. Multiple providers described direct support professional (DSP) turnover and hiring pressures: the state’s rate model assumes an average DSP wage of $18.77 an hour, speakers…