Connecticut Set to Address Wait List

HARTFORD – The governor's budget chief said officials over the next year will find ways to unfreeze a stalled list of more than 2,000 people with intellectual disabilities waiting for services, which advocates have identified as a crisis.
While Ben Barnes stopped short of saying the state will allocate money, he said the Department of Developmental Services will "develop strategies to address and fund" the waiting list – a queue that never moves unless a person's parents or care givers become incapacitated or die.
Barnes' assertion immediately struck a chord with advocates.

Fla. Senate Official Plans to End Wait List

Florida's next state Senate president hopes to eliminate the backlog of people with developmental disabilities who are waiting to receive services in their homes. Senator Andy Gardiner praised state leaders for directing $36 million in the last legislative session to a waiting list for home and community-based services under a Medicaid waiver. The state Agency for Persons with Disabilities sent out letters last month offering services to 695 Floridians who have been waiting for them.

Connecticut Families Endure Long Wait for Care

Connecticut is fast running out of money for a residential program that many families with intellectually disabled children have relied on for years.  Families are concerned about where their children will live and who will take care of them as they grow older.