DDS West Region director: 24 on emergency placement list, housing projects moving forward, trach policy under review

Shannon, director for the West Region of the Department of Developmental Services, told a regional advisory meeting that the region currently has 24 people on its emergency placement list and that finding appropriate placements remains a major challenge.

Shannon said the emergency list covers people the region has agreed to fund but for whom staff are still trying to locate suitable placements: “We currently have 24 on our list, which is, a large number, but we've been at a much higher level at other points in time.”

The director's report covered several programmatic and system issues. Shannon summarized recent activity by self-advocates in the West Region, ongoing contract and consulting work with GTI and Deloitte, weekly coordination with the Connecticut Hospital Association and other state agencies about people remaining in hospitals past discharge readiness, and a set of supported-housing developments that are near approval or under construction.

Why it matters: the combination of people awaiting placements, persistent staffing shortages among provider agencies, and hospital discharge bottlenecks increase pressure on hospitals and the regional system. Shannon and other meeting participants linked those problems to wage competition in the broader labor market and to limited state budget capacity to raise provider pay.

Most important details

- Emergency placements: Shannon said staffing and provider unwillingness to accept some medically or behaviorally challenging people contribute to the difficulty of locating placements. She described weekly coordination meetings that include regional directors, the Connecticut Hospital Association and the Department of Children and Families to plan discharges.

- Workforce and wages: Meeting participants repeatedly cited low pay and competition from higher-paying private employers (retail, food service, large employers) as a primary cause of provider vacancies. Shannon and others said higher wages would ease many downstream problems but noted that funding and budget constraints limit options.

- Supported housing: Shannon described three developments the region is tracking: one in Cheshire (developer Ben Tripp working with Southern 10 ARC), a Naugatuck project that will add 12 units (with a likely phase 2 adding similar capacity), and a Fairfield County project awaiting Department of Housing approval (the application deadline was described as the coming Friday). She said Cheshire’s project is expected to open toward the end of 2025 or the start of 2026; the Naugatuck first phase has a target in early 2026, with scheduling subject to change.

- Trach and airway policy: DDS is revising policy to clarify who may perform artificial‑airway care and deep suctioning outside nursing settings. Shannon said the revision aims to make it easier for people with tracheostomies to live in the community instead of remaining in hospitals or specialized nursing facilities: “So we're revising the policy now. So it's, gonna be a little bit easier for individuals with a trach to live in the community.” She credited advocacy from parents and the agency’s deputy commissioner for advancing the work.

Other program notes: the West Region reported four self-advocates (two bilingual) engaged with Connecticut Family Support Network and programs such as AT & Me and healthy-relationships trainings coordinated with Planned Parenthood; the director said participation counts spiked in one year and then dropped, and she will ask for follow-up about how counts were logged.

Meeting directions and next steps

- Shannon said she will follow up on participant-count discrepancies in the self-advocates report and will coordinate invitations for self-advocate coordinators to present to the group.

- The group also planned to invite consultant Joe Cavallo back for an update on GTI work and for members to raise concerns directly.

Votes and procedural motions

The group handled routine procedural motions during the meeting: a motion to call the meeting to order, approval of the agenda, approval of last month’s minutes, and a motion to adjourn. Those procedural items were moved and seconded and were approved by voice without a roll-call vote recorded in the transcript.

Context and background

Shannon noted broader state and federal policy developments to watch, including proposed state legislative items circulated by DDS and potential federal changes that could affect health‑care financing. She characterized the overall situation as a system under strain: persistent provider vacancies, placement difficulty for medically and behaviorally complex individuals, and the risk that hospital stays extend because suitable community placements are not available.

The director’s report ended with an invitation for questions; no substantive policy votes or binding directives were recorded during the meeting beyond the routine procedural approvals.