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Chester County official says IDD services face funding shortfalls and long waiting list
Summary
Stephanie Kilcoyne, deputy administrator for Chester County's Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities unit, told commissioners the county faces insufficient funding, a sizeable Medicaid‑funded caseload and long waiting lists, and highlighted a supportive housing pilot and MyPEGS strategy to reduce emergency waits.
Stephanie Kilcoyne, deputy administrator for the county's Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) unit, told the Chester County Board of Commissioners on March 11 that funding shortfalls and provider capacity gaps are the department's most urgent challenges.
"By far, number one … is the funding and the waiting list," Kilcoyne said as she outlined the unit's work to determine eligibility, manage individualized support plans and oversee provider compliance. She said the county’s IDD administrative entity manages Medicaid funding "totaling 185,000,000" for registered individuals in the county and described three waiver types used to fund services.
Kilcoyne said Chester County had 581 people on the state's waiting list for services as of March 2, 2026, with 237 classified in "emergency" status. She told the board that limited provider capacity — especially for services such as community participation support — and low state reimbursement rates make it difficult to recruit and retain providers in parts of the county.
The deputy administrator described several steps the county and state are taking to address the backlog. She highlighted the multi‑year program growth strategy (MyPEGS), which allows county administrative entities to repurpose underused allocations to create new funding opportunities for people on the waiting list. Kilcoyne said Chester County was among the first counties in the Southeast Region approved to use MyPEGS and that ODP (the state Office of Developmental Programs) anticipates the approach will eliminate the waiting list for adults in emergency status.
Kilcoyne also discussed a county pilot to provide supportive housing for people with IDD. Starting in 2024, the IDD unit has received more than 50 referrals and now supports 13 individuals with a rental subsidy and in‑home supports to help them live independently.
Kilcoyne acknowledged progress — the county has increased referrals and registrations and recently approved three additional positions for the IDD unit — but she warned that those gains increase administrative burden. "Over the last 10 years, the amount of new referrals received and opened by the IDD unit has quadrupled," she said, adding that more individuals mean "more individualized support plans, more enrollments, more incidents, more everything."
The presentation closed with Kilcoyne offering to provide follow‑up information and contact details for the unit and its administrator. Commissioners did not take formal action during the presentation; the remarks were provided as an informational briefing and to guide future budget and staffing decisions.
