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Advocates and Caregivers Warn Against Cutting Community First Choice as PCA Payroll Failures Fuel Hardship
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Summary
People with disabilities, personal care attendants (PCAs) and disability advocates told Connecticut's Appropriations Human Services subcommittee that ending Community First Choice (CFC) and ongoing payroll failures have placed thousands at risk of institutionalization, eviction and loss of care. Witnesses urged lawmakers to preserve CFC, fix the state's fiscal intermediary problems and increase oversight.
Connecticut's human services budget hearing turned into an urgent plea from people with disabilities, family caregivers and personal care attendants on Tuesday, as dozens of witnesses described how a proposed end to the Community First Choice (CFC) program and continuing payroll failures have destabilized families and workers.
Advocates said the governor's midterm budget adjustment (HB 5032) wants to sunset CFC and transfer participants onto waiver programs, but witnesses and provider data warned that long waiver wait lists and capped enrollment mean many people would lose timely home-based care and face nursing-home placement. "If CFC goes away, people would be forced into nursing homes," said multiple witnesses representing Connecticut ADAPT and independent living centers, noting the program serves roughly 7,250 current participants according to testimony. Several speakers contrasted an average CFC care plan (stated in testimony as about $64,000 a year) with published estimates of nursing-home costs (testimony cited roughly $92,676 a year), arguing that preserving CFC is both a humanitarian and cost-saving choice.
The hearing also featured repeated, emotionally charged testimony from personal care attendants and union representatives about payroll errors after the state's fiscal intermediary contract moved to a private vendor, GTI Independence. Union and PCA speakers said the vendor's takeover in 2024 coincided with a spike in missing or short paychecks: testimony documented that 5,000 paychecks were shorted or missing in one November and that more than 1,000 remained unpaid months later. PCAs and their advocates described evictions, repossessions and homelessness tied to missed pay — "I went nearly three months without pay," said one PCA — and urged the committee to require DSS to bring payroll functions in-house or otherwise ensure timely payments and stronger contracts with vendors.
Multiple family members, including parents and guardians who rely on CFC to hire and manage personal assistants, warned that a switch to waiver programs would not protect the many people who do not qualify for existing waivers or who would face years-long wait lists. "Only CFC covers 24-hour care in the community," one witness said. Family testimony included specific examples: parents and adult children who said CFC allowed a loved one to work, attend college, or avoid institutional care. Disability advocates urged the committee to convene an oversight review rather than eliminate the program.
Committee members heard repeated requests for immediate fixes to payroll and fiscal intermediary management. Union leaders and PCAs called for more transparency, guaranteed on-time pay and remedial funding from DSS to resolve backpay and outstanding grievances. "No working person should ever have to struggle without a paycheck," a union delegate said, calling the situation "unacceptable." Witnesses asked the legislature to increase funding for DSS oversight, require stronger performance metrics for vendors, and consider state-run payroll options.
What happens next: Witnesses urged the Appropriations Committee to preserve CFC in any budget action, to fund independent living centers, and to require immediate remediation of the GTI payroll failures. The committee did not take a vote during the hearing; it will consider budget language in upcoming sessions where these requests and alternatives may be negotiated.
