"State of the States" for people with developmental disabilities

This is from an article in Disability Scoop, "Disability Spending Drops for the First Time in Years" by Michelle Diament, 7/22/13, based on the 2013 State of the States in Developmental Disabilities, a report from the University of Colorado:

• "Overall government spending on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities for 2011 — the most recent year for which data is available — was $56.65 billion, the report found.
• "Of the funding distributed nationwide that year, about 20 percent went toward programs providing family supports, employment services, personal assistance and similar aid.
• "Almost 60 percent went toward residential settings for six or fewer people while 5 percent funded living environments with seven to 15 residents. State-run institutions with 16 or more residents received 11.5 percent of total spending and 3 percent went to institutions that were privately run.
• "Nearly 80 percent of government spending on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities was funneled through the Medicaid program in 2011, the report found. Other funding came from the states and federal programs like Social Security."

More information on the State of the States Report was presented here in a Webinar on Feb. 27, 2013, hosted by the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD).

The presentation shows some disturbing trends:
 
"Current Trend: Support Services Waivers Characterized By:

• "A low dollar cap on the total amount of HCBS Waiver services authorized for each beneficiary
• "Flexibility in the selection of services within the dollar cap
• "Expectation that unpaid family caregivers will provide significant support to Waiver participants [emphasis added]"

"An Estimated 853 Thousand Persons with I/DD Live at Home with Aging Caregivers"

Intellectual and Developmental Disability (I/DD) spending per $1,000 of state aggregate personal income, shows that Michigan ranks 26th at $3.75, a reduction in spending of 0.2%
 
In addition is this from another 2013 report from UCP, "The Case for Inclusion":

"Waiting lists for residential and community services are high and show the unmet need. More than a quarter of a million people (268,000) are on a waiting list for Home and Community Based Services. This would require a daunting 44% increase in states' HCBS programs! However, 20 states report no waiting list or a small waiting list (requiring less than 10% program growth). This measure has gotten much worse over the life of the Case for Inclusion. Since the 2007 Ranking, the size of the waiting list nationally has almost doubled from 138,000 to 268,000."

In Summary: Less money is being spent on people with DD. Waiting lists for services have almost doubled since 2007. 853,000 people with DD live at home with aging parents.  The expectation is that unpaid family caregivers will provide "significant support" to waiver recipients. And there don't appear to be any plans to relieve the burden on families by expanding residential options for people with DD.