Disability service providers across the country are struggling to maintain their offerings, with many reporting they are rejecting new referrals and discontinuing programs and worrying the situation could get worse.
TO survey published this week finds that 90% of providers serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have faced moderate or severe staffing shortages in the past year. As a result, 69% said they had turned away new clients and 39% indicated they had closed programs or services. More than a third said they were considering additional cuts to their programs.
The findings come from an annual survey conducted by the American Network for Community Options and Resources, or ANCOR, which represents disability service providers nationwide. It is based on responses from 496 community service providers in 47 states and Washington, DC, more than half of whom indicated they serve areas where there are few or no other options.
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When forced to make cuts due to staffing issues, 37% of providers said they had eliminated residential habilitation services and nearly a third had cut day and home-habilitation services or job supports.
Survey results suggest the situation is having a very real impact on people with developmental disabilities: Nearly 6 in 10 case managers indicated they had difficulty connecting people to services and nearly half of providers They said they see reportable incidents more frequently as a result of staffing shortages.
Yet despite the dire outlook, ANCOR officials say many of the metrics actually represent “modest improvements” over last year’s survey results. They attribute the gains in part to $37 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds in recent years for Medicaid home and community-based services, much of which went to pay increases for direct support professionals who help people with disabilities living in the community. But that money must be used by March 31, 2025, and it’s unclear how states and providers will maintain any wage increases after that point.
“While it is encouraging to see a decrease in the rate of program and service closures due to staffing shortages, we remain deeply concerned that the lack of legislative action will make this fragile progress temporary,” said Barbara Merrill, executive director of ANCHOR. “We have already heard countless stories from providers who are extremely concerned about their state’s ability to close the gap that will remain and how they will recruit direct support workers into their state when they are already struggling to compete with the private sector.”
Meanwhile, there are broader concerns about what the future of Medicaid could look like amid reports that newly empowered Republican leaders in Washington are considering changes to the program.
“The stakes could not be higher for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who rely on Medicaid home and community-based services,” said Lydia Dawson, ANCOR vice president of government relations. “Particularly in light of the funding shortfalls that service providers are already facing this year, any further cuts to community services, whether directly at the federal level or in other areas that will pressure states to further reduce their investments on Medicaid, it would be devastating. .”
