Oregon Office of Developmental Disabilities Services Director Lilia Teninty released a statement today regarding budget cuts and investments in Governor Brown’s recently-released state budget for 2017 – 2019 related to the intellectual and developmental disabilities community:
Dec. 5, 2016
To: All ODDS Staff and Stakeholders
On December 1, Governor Kate Brown published her proposed budget for the 2017-2019 biennium. The governor noted she had tough decisions to make under difficult circumstances, including a $1.7 billion budget gap. Her budget fills the shortfall with a combination of new revenue, program cuts and efficiencies.
The governor’s budget for DHS is nearly $11.3 billion total funds, a 6 percent increase over the current biennium. It includes investments to balance the DHS budget in a long-term sustainable manner to meet the needs of Oregon’s most vulnerable residents. It also includes reductions that impact DHS.
The Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities system
The Oregon Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) program strives to support choices of individuals with disabilities and their families within communities by promoting and providing services that are person-centered, self-directed, flexible, community-inclusive, and culturally appropriate.
The I/DD system has many critical partners including Community Developmental Disabilities Programs (CDDPs), Brokerages, providers, families, and self-advocates, which support individuals with I/DD to live full lives in their communities. Oregon no longer has institutional settings for persons with developmental disabilities, so all individuals are served in the community. Most of these services are administered under Medicaid waivers and the Community First Choice Option (the K-Plan). The Stabilization and Crisis Unit (SACU) is also part of this program.
With the implementation of the K-Plan, the I/DD program has experienced and continues to experience increases in caseload and cost per case for individuals served. The 2017-19 Governor’s budget for Office of Developmental Disabilities Services (ODDS) is $2.7 billion total funds ($893.9 million General Fund).
Governor’s proposed 2017-2019 budget
In order to fully fund increased caseloads and costs, certain tradeoffs had to occur. While continuing to protect eligibility requirements for children and adults to qualify for services, the budget makes some reductions.
- Community Developmental Disability Programs and Brokerages. Thirty-four CDDPs and 14 Support Services Brokerages provide case management services to approximately 26,000 individuals with I/DD. CDDPs serve as a front door to the I/DD System, responsible for eligibility determinations and re-determinations, protective service investigations, and on-site reviews of foster homes for children and adults. Since implementation of the K-Plan, case management entities have been serving rapidly growing number of individuals with I/DD enrolling into the system and have experienced increasing workloads. This budget reduces equity funding from 95 to 91 percent.
- Family-to-Family Network program. With the K-Plan, services are available to all eligible children and adults in Oregon. Families take advantage of the Family-to-Family Network to learn about and access other local resources and unpaid supports. This program would be eliminated in this budget.
- Regional programs. Funding provided to regional programs has been eliminated. These programs are funded by the state but the functions were determined by local CDDPs, ranging from provider training and capacity building to crisis placement, depending on the needs of the area.
The budget also makes significant investments in DD programs.
- Rate increase to support Direct Support Professionals. To address the need to develop a stable and well-trained workforce, the budget funds increasing the rate structure for non-bargained, agency services with a $22.3 million General Fund increase. This can help reduce the staff turnover rate and help attract and retain qualified workers, increasing safety for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
- Fairview Trust Fund. The budget expends the $6 million Fairview Housing Trust Fund on services dedicated to individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Related investments.
- Background Check Unit. Additional staff will help eliminate a backlog of background checks for I/DD Personal Support Workers, agency DSPs and other DHS programs, helping meet required staffing levels while maintaining health, safety and financial wellness of Oregonians.
- Technology improvements. The budget adds $14 million General Fund for two important technology programs. One of those, the Centralized Abuse Management System, will replace a patchwork of solutions for records related to abuse reporting for our programs and others within DHS.
Whenever we are faced with budget cuts — even as we have increases in other areas — it causes a lot of uncertainty and worry. Governor Brown says that state government will tighten its belt and live within its means, but not without painful cuts to critical programs at a level she finds unavoidable and unacceptable. She has presented this budget “ … as the starting place for a broader conversation with Oregonians and legislators about how best to align our resources with our shared values and vision for moving Oregon forward.”
In January, the Legislature will take up the state budget. There will be many opportunities to provide input to Legislators throughout the session. I look forward to working with advocates for the DD system throughout this process and I will provide you with information as the process unfolds.
Lilia Teninty, Director
Office of Developmental Disabilities Services