By Steve Suroviec
A state budget was adopted in Harrisburg on July 11. One of Achieva’s largest funding streams comes from the PA Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) for services to people with intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/A). Unfortunately, the approved budget included a reduction of $93 million in state funds compared to the one proposed by the governor in February. With the additional loss of the federal matching funds, the total loss to the ID/A system appears to be about $200 million statewide.
Neither ODP nor the Governor’s Office has explained how the funding reduction will impact the service system. Will the initiatives to serve more people from the emergency waiting list be reduced? Will the higher provider rates that were to take effect July 1 so that wages for Direct Support Professionals could be increased be pulled back and reduced? No one knows yet.
Despite lukewarm positive statements about the ID/A budget from the groups that belong to the ID/A Coalition in Harrisburg, I along with many stakeholders are concerned. It’s difficult to understand why leaders in the PA Senate and leaders in the PA House of Representatives would want to reduce ID/A funding from the governor’s proposal, and it’s also difficult to understand why the governor would go along with it. Historically, it’s rare that the ID/A budget proposed by a governor has been reduced in the final budget deal, but it’s now been 2 years in a row that it’s happened.
ID/A rates have only increased once since 2017, and if past practice continues then the state will wait another 3 years to increase rates again. That means ID/A providers have to live with only 2 rate increases during a 10-year period. Inflation in staff healthcare benefits, fuel, housing, vehicles and vehicle insurance, and wages have far exceeded the few rate increases the state has funded, which is why families and providers had put so much hope into having the proposed budget pass intact. But it wasn’t to be – again.
All that said, some hope remains. The ID/A budget did increase overall compared to last fiscal year, and perhaps budget makers in Harrisburg simply reduced the ID/A budget because ODP had found unspent funding from last year to cover the reduction and thus never intended for the July 1 rates to be lowered or waiting list funding to be cut. I hope that’s true. If it is, then I hope ODP and/or the Governor’s Office will issue a public statement to that effect very soon.
Meantime, Achieva will continue to do its best to manage its resources efficiently and effectively to provide high-quality services to as many people in need as possible.
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