I have written before about Aaron and the casual indifference many of us in the field had adopted toward the waitlist over time. And I promised that I would no longer adopt such an insouciant attitude toward the issue in the future.
So I feel I need to respond to the implication in the story that the waitlist was strictly a result of the economic troubles that have so impacted our country over the past few years, and that new resources slotted for the population we serve will meet the future need.
Yes, the waitlist was exacerbated by the economic downturn. But the growing waitlist was well underway before 2008. And the new resources discussed in the video piece may not completely close the gap to ensure that others like Aaron will get off of the waitlist and receive the services they so desperately need.
In fact, at current rates, the resources don’t actually cover the cost of services.
Check out the graph below, which compares rates paid to providers with the Consumer Price Index in Denver, Boulder, and Greeley from FY 1997-98 through 2014-15 (along with projections up to 2020). I think you will notice a disturbing trend. (You can click on the graph to get a bigger view).
This graphic is based on a memorandum from staff members of Colorado’s Joint Budget Committee (JBC), to the JBC, dated January 24, 2012.
Those aren’t just lines and numbers. That growing separation between what providers are paid and what it actually costs to do business shown above is not a secret and has very real consequences for individuals receiving (or not receiving) support services in our state. Aaron’s story demonstrates those consequences all too clearly.
So I celebrate the new resources introduced by the state last year to provide services to many more vulnerable Colorado citizens. I applaud the effort to end the waitlist. But even though I celebrate and applaud, I will continue to push and prod to ensure that the efforts to make sure that every Colorado citizen with an intellectual or developmental disability has access the kind of services and supports he or she needs to become self-reliant, active participants in their communities. I won’t accept half measures or self-congratulatory acts. I don’t want to have to ever hear any more stories like Aaron’s. I don’t think you want to hear them, either.
Then again, what do I know?
Powerful and appropriate reaction, Mark, and I applaud your commitment. Aaron's story is heart wrenching. So too are the stories of countless others whose wait for services spans decades, a reflection of casual indifference to their dreams. By choosing not to address them, we have made a clear choice indeed.
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll allow me to take up your cause and join you in its relentless pursuit. It's he least any of us can and must do to give legacy to Aaron's life and purpose to his family's commitment.
David Ervin
David, you are a true champion.
DeleteMark
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ReplyDeleteWords do run short especially for a story such as Aaron's. As a parent of an ASD boy and a long time disability services professional it continues to be a grave concern of ours. Unfortunately the problem is even worse in FL with over 25,000 families on the waiting list and 46th in the US for % of Medicaid dollars going towards HCBS (waiver services) for the I/DD.
ReplyDeleteAs in GA over the past few years, it is taking legal action by the US-DOJ against FL to end the process of undue institutionalization and implementation of strategies to not only reduce but obliterate the country's largest waiting list (and that only includes those who have applied not all that need/qualify) that has a policy of service provision only after crisis. We as a family have been fortunate enough to have our child recently eligible for services through the use of a huge amount of documentation and hurdle jumping. Luckily this has created a small agent of change that has encouraged other families to join the waiting list and seek to obtaining waiver services with some success unheard of for young ASD individuals. But we now face the hurdle of quality of services from available providers.
In my professional and personal life I have never found an organization that could surpass Imagine's quality of care and innovative approaches. We as an ASD family (and it is the family as a unit that needs the support) can only hope to be in a position some day to make a successful move back to CO and maintain the integrity of services as well as contribute to the network as a positive agent of change. Thank you for all your good works!
John Miullo