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Families Warn Proposed DD Waiver Changes Will Lengthen IDD Waitlists; Office of Community Living Proposes Churn Controls
Summary
Community leaders and the Office of Community Living outlined proposals to slow automatic youth transitions and halve churn enrollments into the DD waiver as budget savings; family witnesses urged preserving 24/7 supports and called proposed changes a life‑and‑death issue for those on the wait list.
The Office of Community Living (Bonnie Silva) and community representatives (Rocky Mountain Human Services CEO Sherry Repinski and Celeste Ewart of Envision) delivered a statutorily required update on implementation of the state’s IDD strategic plan and described how enrollment growth in the DD waiver has outpaced sustainable funding.
Silva described three policy levers the department is proposing to slow the most‑costly growth: change auto‑enrollment of youth aging out of children’s waivers (CES/CHRP) into the adult DD waiver, reduce churn (turnover) authorizations by 50%, and prioritize reserved capacity and emergency enrollments for high‑need cases. The department presented estimated savings associated with those changes, including $6.5 million (total funds) in 2627 from churn reductions and approximately $15.3M–$18.7M (total funds) in outyears for ending automatic youth transitions. Silva said those measures would not remove current members or change the DD benefit package but would slow new enrollments.
Multiple family witnesses in public testimony described the practical consequences of slowing enrollment: parents said their adult children who need 24/7 oversight rely on the DD waiver as a backstop and that reduced enrollment or reduced churn would push families toward crisis, institutional care, or worse. “SLS and Community First Choice do not give what truly matters,” testified Cindy Stevens (public commenter), calling the DD waiver the “backup plan” that prevents lives of dependents from collapsing when parents age or die. Witnesses urged alternative savings—administrative efficiencies, cross‑departmental audits, and reallocation of non‑federal matched programs—rather than narrowing or delaying the DD waiver.
Silva and her team said the proposals were framed to preserve services for people already enrolled and to reserve capacity for emergencies, while asking the committee to consider the budget realities that make ongoing, not temporary, reductions necessary. Committee members and public commenters requested more granular cost and impact modeling and alternatives that avoid leaving high‑need adults without 24/7 care.
