Our Moment is Now to Educate and Advocate!
Now, more than ever, we must educate and advocate to eliminate the waiting list, raise Direct Support Professional (DSP) wages, and ensure the promise of Olmstead.  

Today, Judge Allen Baddour stayed the Samantha R. decision while it is on appeal. This means the Samantha R. decision will not be in effect while North Carolina appeals it. 

The Samantha R. decision had ordered an end to the waiting list, a requirement that the state ensures a sufficient DSP workforce, and for the state to enable thousands of individuals with developmental disabilities to transition from institutions and large congregate settings to the community. While there was no consensus around all the elements of Samantha R. ruling, there is widespread agreement around the waiting list and DSP wages. The intellectual and developmental disability (I/DD) community cannot wait for a final ruling. 

We must continue to move forward. 

The General Assembly is in session. Decisions will be made in the next several weeks on Medicaid Expansion, the budget, any increase to DSP wages, and whether new Innovations slots will be added.  You can email or call your Representative or Senator by looking them up on the NC Legislative website or Open States.  You can also ask for a meeting or phone call.  

Meet the Need NC will have its next lunch and learn disability advocacy series on February 21st at 12 pm. This month’s Hear. Share. Act. program will discuss "Building Relationships with Your Legislators.” Register via Eventbrite here.

The top two policy priorities for the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities will be to eliminate the waiting list over the next eight years and to raise DSP rates.  It would take 2,000 new Innovations Waiver slots this year to begin to realistically achieve that goal at the current waiting list of 16,000.  Many advocates and providers believe DSP wages must be raised to at least $18.00 an hour to ensure the robust workforce needed in the community.  

The Samantha R. decision and appeal have galvanized the I/DD community at a time of unprecedented unmet need.  People need services because of the waiting list and DSP workforce crises.  These dual crises have developed over decades of underfunding and have become untenable due to the pandemic and inflation. The good news is that North Carolina is a wealthy state.  

Working together, we can eliminate the waiting list and raise DSP wages.

Here is what you can do:
About the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities: The North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities (NCCDD) works to assure that people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their families participate in the design of and have access to needed community services, individualized supports and other forms of assistance that promote self-determination, independence, productivity and inclusion in all areas of community life. Through its Five-Year Plan, the Council identifies and funds innovative projects and initiatives that promote the goals of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (DD Act) for all North Carolinians. www.nccdd.org