I confess I’ve been very distracted by the unacceptable federal actions taking place recently in DC. In case you’re interested, I’ve been writing about that here: DClives (click on it to open my Substack posts, and please share with your friends outside DC). But there is also plenty happening with respect to local concerns for the disability community, so let me try to “dive in.”
Back in July I wrote (“We’re Getting Closer to a Budget”) about the disagreement between DDS and the
Council’s facilities committee about the $1.6 million in waiver funding that
the committee removed from the DDS budget.
In the DDS monthly forum on August 22, that disagreement was in full
view, as you’ll note if you listen to the exchange between DDS Director Reese
and Councilmember Lewis George’s staffer Sebastian Weinmann near the end of the
video. In brief, Reese indicated that there will,
for the first time, be a wait list for the IDD waiver (see this page for explanation
of relevant terms) beginning on October 1 (the start of the 2026 fiscal year)
because of the cut in the mayor’s DDS funding request. This seems to be happening even though there
would be enough funding to get through most of the year, due to guidance from
the administration’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer. There already is a wait list policy, developed
several years ago, that could be instituted fairly quickly. Reese further announced that the IFS waiver
will remain open to new candidates as long as there are open slots.
Reese also linked this discussion to his announcement, in the DDS budget briefing May 30, that he would be forming a PCO “sustainability of services” work group that would meet monthly for six months, starting this month, in order to come up with suggestions for savings in the IDD waiver budget, since expenses are growing more quickly than can be explained by either increases in the cost of living or the addition of new people since FY2023's broadened eligibility. DDS put out a call in mid-August for outside volunteers to join this work group. Reese also indicated on August 22 that the IDD waiver, which is now being amended (also discussed in the August 22 forum, with comments due by September 15) could be amended again, probably in January 2027, as a result of any recommendations the work group may make.
So, besides the generally challenging environment that all of us in DC are experiencing right now – or to some extent because of it – times are now going to become quite a bit tougher for people hoping to qualify for residential supports from DDS.
🤯
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