Julia's Musings: DD Community Has A Good Day

Wednesday, May 21 was The Coalition Rally Day at the General Assembly. People with developmental disabilities, their families and their friends made their presence known with office visits to their local legislators. They asked their Representatives and Senators to support funding for new CAP/MR-DD Waiver slots and to continue to fund the Housing 400 Initiative, which provides real housing options for people with disabilities. People with developmental disabilities, their families and friends left the state house knowing that their legislators understand their needs and are actively addressing those needs through wise budget recommendations.

The morning started out with excellent news from the House Health and Human Services Appropriation Subcommittee. The Governor’s budget provided no funding to open new CAP/MR-DD Waiver slots for the over 4,000 families waiting for this critical service, but the appropriation subcommittee did see the need. They received your emails, your calls, and heard your stories. They request $8.2 million dollars in funding to open new CAP/MR-DD waiver slots. This funding will open over 1,000 slots.

The members of the House Health and Human Services Appropriation Subcommittee also understood the need for our state to continue developing affordable and accessible housing options for people with disabilities. The Housing 400 Initiative is recognized nationally as a model for creating real housing choice for people with disabilities. The current budget request included $4 million dollars toward new home development and $1 million in rental/operational assistance.

The House HHS Appropriation Subcommittee was not the only group to roll out their budget request. The House Education Subcommittee also recognized an oversight in the Governor’s budget. The Governor did not propose an increase in funding for children with special needs in our public schools. The Education Appropriation Subcommittee however did see a need for increased educational funding for children with disabilities and proposed $6.2 million dollars, which would increase funding to $3,368.50 dollars per student.

The Arc of North Carolina greatly appreciates the leadership of our elected leaders who worked so hard on these important funding recommendations. The final House budget will be released early next week.