MEDIA: Senators call for bipartisan support of community living

/in , /by Katie Gustainis

Senators Chris Gildon (R) and Janice Zahn (D) have called for bipartisan support of their bill the reduce inefficiencies and make investments in community living go farther for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Read the whole editorial at this link: https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/wa-should-offer-people-with-disabilities-dignity-choice/

Here’s how WA can preserve services for people with disabilities

January 9, 2026, The Seattle Times, by Chris Gildon and Janice Zahn

Washington cannot afford to waste taxpayer dollars on redundant bureaucracy, especially when such inefficiencies get in the way of providing direct services for people in need. This could not be more true when it comes to direct support for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It must be a priority during our upcoming 60-day legislative session as we work to manage a difficult state budget situation.

Our goal is simple: streamline oversight of Supported Living services so limited Medicaid funds go further, caregivers spend more time with clients and taxpayers see real value for every dollar spent. That’s why we are working together on bipartisan legislation (SB 6024 and HB 2230) to cut wasteful redundancies, preserve rigorous and focused oversight and direct more of the budget to where it will do the most good.

Because state law requires a balanced budget, and as lawmakers we face another multibillion‑dollar shortfall in 2026, our choice is clear: Either cut services for vulnerable Washingtonians or make existing programs more efficient so we can preserve and strengthen care without relying on new money.

Roughly 4,700 Washingtonians with intellectual and developmental disabilities live in their own homes with the help of Supported Living services. These services are almost entirely funded by Medicaid, which covers the wages of direct support professionals — often providing care 24 hours a day, seven days a week — as well as the administrative systems that connect people with the right support in their communities. There are about 14,000 trained DSPs in our state, and a Supported Living home with three clients relies on 10 direct support professionals to provide care, though many homes have fewer than three clients so that each setting is appropriate for each client’s behavioral health. For example, DSPs help with daily care such as personal hygiene, cooking, cleaning, managing prescriptions, budgeting, grocery shopping and supporting connections in the community. This model is less costly than state‑run facilities, keeps people in their familiar neighborhoods and is already subject to multiple layers of public oversight.

Public oversight of Medicaid programs like Supported Living is important for protecting the interests of taxpayers and the well-being of Supported Living clients. However, over the years, many disparate new policies and agency programs have created overlap and redundancies in this oversight…(Read the rest at this link)

 

MEDIA: Editorial by Stacy Dym urges protection of community services

/in , , /by Katie Gustainis

The Seattle Times published a powerful guest editorial by Stacy Dym, Executive Director of The Arc of Washington State. Read the beginning here and the rest at this link: https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/wa-should-offer-people-with-disabilities-dignity-choice/

WA should offer people with disabilities dignity, choice

December 18, 2025, The Seattle Times, by Stacy Dym

“Pink-painted walls. A cat. The freedom to eat popcorn while you watch your favorite TV show. These aren’t luxuries, but they felt that way to my sister when she was finally moved from a state institution for the developmentally disabled into a community-based group home almost 40 years ago.

Thanks to the expansion of state home and community-based services (HCBS), she was allowed to waive her so-called “right” to live in a restrictive institutional environment. Instead, she could choose a home in the community that gave her freedoms most of us take for granted while still providing the care she needed.

Dignity, for her, was as simple as a choice.

Today, 78% of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Washington state live with family for the majority of their lifetime. This is largely because there’s nowhere else for them to go.

Although large institutions are no longer the norm, home and community-based services have never received a comparable level of investment in our state. Today, almost one-third of people with IDD who’ve been identified by the state are still waiting for a chance to live in the community.

When family resources run dry, caregivers age or someone gets sick (and they will), crisis is imminent. For people with complex health or behavioral needs, many get stuck for years in the hospital, state institutions or unfit environments that were never meant to be permanent placements.

Now, as our Legislature stares over a fiscal cliff, people with developmental disabilities and their families are terrified about what lies ahead…” (Read the rest at this link).