March 6, 2026

VOR's Weekly News Update

VOR is a national non-profit organization

run by families of people with I/DD and autism

for families of people with I/DD and autism.

March is I/DD Awareness Month

VOR's March Networking Meeting:

Protection & Advocacy (P&A's)

Please join us for our March 24 Networking Meeting

4 pm ET, 3 pm CT, 2 pm MT, 1 pm PT

On Zoom

Our topic for this meeting is State Protection & Advocacy Agencies (P&A’s)        

Share your history with your state's P&A

Have they helped you in any way, or

have they worked against your family's interests?

Do they ever protect anyone - or do they just advocate against choice?

What can we do to hold them accountable?

For more information, please click here

VOR's 2026 Legislative Initiative

June 8 - 10

Washington D.C.

We are proud to announce that we will be returning to Capitol Hill this June.

This is your chance to share with members of Congress about the issues that affect us, as families of individuals with I/DD and autism.

We have a limited number of hotel rooms avaialable, at the ridiculously low price of $178 per night for a single room, $269 per night for a double.

Please register for the initiative now to reserve your rooms.

From our friends at Saving Wrentham and Hogan Alliance:

Massachusetts Lawsuit Series - Part 4

Boulet v. Cellucci: When “Community Living” Meant Waiting Without Services

Saving Wrentham and Hogan Alliance, February 27, 2026

Hutchinson v. Patrick shows what happens when the state places adults with acquired brain injuries (ABI) in nursing homes simply because there are no other options.

This case mirrors the Rolland v. Cellucci case where individuals with intellectual disabilities were moved out of appropriate intermediate care facilities and forced into nursing homes in the name of "community inclusion."

As Massachusetts braces for a surge in elderly residents needing long‑term care, this pattern has serious consequences. Nursing homes are already stretched thin, and placing people there who require entirely different services only accelerates the strain. Hutchinson is not just a story about the past — it’s a warning about what lies ahead.

Please click here to read or listen to this article. 

From our friends at Together for Choice:

HCBS Settings Rule Presentation

Together for Choice has developed a comprehensive presentation regarding the HCBS Settings Rule and its current impact on the I/DD Community.

We encourage our readers to read and share this excellent presentation.

Please click here to download

More people are getting diagnosed with autism, but the causes aren’t clear. Genetic testing can provide answers for some people who are on the autism spectrum.

By Tyler Smith, University of Colorado Health, March 5, 2026

More and more children and adults are getting diagnosed with autism, and while the number of people who have autism or autism spectrum disorder is on the rise, the causes remain unclear.

You might have heard misinformation about links between Tylenol use during pregnancy and increased risk of autism, but researchers are focusing much more on genetic causes for autism rather than focusing on medications women use during pregnancy.

A study on autism and genetics that researchers published last July has generated significant discussion among both medical experts and members of the public.

One of the researchers’ key conclusions was that people with autism fall into four categories, broadly based on the degree of their developmental delays, social challenges and other health issues. The researchers raised many questions about autism, including what causes it and how genetics and the environment — and the interplay between genes and environmental factors — may influence brain development.

The study authors also highlighted the idea that a single word or term — “autism” or “autism spectrum disorder” — is not sufficient to describe or understand a condition that affects children and adults in many different ways.

For example, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5^th Edition (DSM-5) — which summarizes psychiatric conditions — lists five different criteria for a diagnosis of autism. The criteria center on persistent difficulties in “social communication and interaction” and “repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities.” The real-life dramas, however, center much more on how these challenges play out for individuals.

Dr. Jessica Solomon Sanders treats children and adults with autism at UCHealth and at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Photo by the University of Colorado Anschutz.

To learn more about autism and the challenges it presents for both patients and doctors, we spoke with Dr. Jessica Solomon Sanders, a specialist in neurodevelopmental disabilities who treats adults and children with autism at UCHealth Neurology Clinic-Central Park and at Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Sanders said that grouping people with autism into categories does not address the complexity of making a diagnosis of autism or understanding the mystery of what causes autism. She said genetic testing for autism is vital to helping patients and their families.

Continued

(Financial advice from a bank)

How to Start Lifelong Financial Planning for a Child with Disabilities

From TD Bank, March 4, 2026

For many families, the cost of raising a child with disabilities in the United States can be staggering, reaching up to $2.4 million, and the financial responsibility often extends well into adulthood, when aging parents may no longer be able to provide care.

Although these expenses may seem daunting, thoughtful financial planning empowers parents to ensure their children receive the support they need throughout childhood and into adulthood. This is especially important as individuals with disabilities face poverty at twice the rate of those without disabilities.

“There are several different ways that you can be investing for your child and putting money aside for very specific purposes that they’ll need throughout their life,” said Mandy Kelso, Head of Financial Education at TD Bank U.S.

Here are eight actions parents can take to help achieve the best financial position possible to care for their child with a disability.

Open an ABLE account

ABLE savings and/or investment accounts allow people with qualifying disabilities to save money without jeopardizing access to government programs. In 2026, up to $20,000 can be directly deposited into an ABLE account by a person with a disability or by their family and friends. These investment accounts are exempt from federal income tax, allowing potential growth without federal tax obligations.

Funds in ABLE accounts may be used toward eligible expenses associated with a child’s disability, including education, transportation, home modifications and direct support services.

If possible, consider investing $20 each month; even small contributions can grow significantly over time. Additionally, family and friends might prefer to make a modest deposit into your child’s account in place of holiday gifts, helping build their financial future in a meaningful way.

Set up a Special Needs Trust

A Special Needs Trust may be a practical solution, as the assets are managed by the trust instead of being owned directly by the individual with disabilities. Even if you don't fund the trust immediately, setting it up while your child is young can be advantageous.

This type of trust can be named as the beneficiary of a parent’s estate, life insurance policy or legal settlement. To determine whether a Special Needs Trust is suitable for your family, it's important to consult with legal and financial experts who can provide personalized advice. 

Continued

Troubled By RFK Jr.’s Overhaul Of Federal Autism Panel, Experts Launch Their Own

By Michelle Diament, Disability Scoop, March 4, 2026

After U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. remade a key federal autism panel, some of the nation’s most influential researchers and advocates are creating a competing one.

Earlier this year, Kennedy announced a new slate of members for the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, or IACC, a congressionally mandated panel comprised of government officials and members of the autism community that has set the country’s autism research agenda for the past two decades. None of the 21 members selected had ever previously served on the committee and many are known for promoting the discredited idea that autism is linked to vaccines or advocating for treatments that lack evidence.

The new group known as the Independent Autism Coordinating Committee, or I-ACC, is being formed as a direct rebuke of the reshaped government panel and includes several former members of the federal committee, according to the Autism Science Foundation and the Coalition of Autism Scientists — a group of more than 300 researchers in the field — which are behind the effort.

The I-ACC will be modeled after the federal IACC, bringing together scientific experts and stakeholders in the community to create a strategic plan for autism research to guide non-governmental research funders. The new committee will also report annually on key advances in the field. Meetings will be held on the same schedule as the federal IACC so that the new group can respond quickly to any recommendations that they say are not backed by science.

“The newly constituted Kennedy-appointed IACC represents a complete and unprecedented overhaul, with no continuity from prior committees and a striking absence of scientific expertise,” said Alison Singer, president of the Autism Science Foundation, who is a member of the new I-ACC and a former member of the federal panel. “It disproportionately represents a tiny subset of families who believe vaccines cause autism, while excluding the overwhelming majority of advocates and experienced autism researchers who support evidence-based science. The new I-ACC will ensure science, not misinformation, guides autism research.”

Continued

Special Education In Limbo As Ed Department Sheds More Responsibilities

By Michelle Diament, Disability Scoop, March 2, 2026

As the U.S. Department of Education accelerates efforts to dismantle the agency, the implications for students with disabilities remain murky.

The agency said that it reached two new agreements late last month to transfer management of education-related programs to other federal departments. The deals follow seven so-called “interagency agreements” last year.

Despite Trump administration officials repeatedly indicating that they intend to move oversight of special education to another agency, the program is not part of the newly announced partnerships. Neither is the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, or OCR, which handles disability discrimination complaints. The Education Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the current status of both.

Continued

Special Ed Enrollment Tops 8 Million Nationwide

By Shaun Heasley, Disability Scoop, March 6, 2026

New data shows that the number of U.S. children eligible for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act jumped significantly.

Nearly 8.2 million kids ages 3 to 21 qualified for special education services in 2024. That’s an increase of more than 300,000 compared to the previous year and continues a pattern of rising enrollment in the program since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The figures come from an analysis of newly released U.S. Department of Education data that was conducted by The Advocacy Institute, a nonprofit that focuses on improving the lives of people with disabilities.

The group said that an increase in the number of children with autism accounted for 40% of the growth in special education enrollment.

Overall, a third of school-age students in special education were categorized as having a specific learning disability while about 17% had speech/language impairment, 16% had “other health impairment,” nearly 15% had autism and 5.5% had intellectual disability.

Continued

Private equity targets Americans with intellectual disabilities for profit, threatening care

By Justin Flores, Private Equity Stakeholder Project, March 4, 2026

Private equity interest in providers of services for the nearly 10 million people in the United States with an intellectual or developmental disability (IDD) poses a significant shift in the operation of critical support for this population at varying levels of healthcare. This business shift represents a potentially radical change, moving from non-profit and religiously affiliated providers to profit-driven interests.

In January 2026, Illinois Sen. Javier Cervantes and Rep. Laura Faver Dias introduced two bills, SB3118 and HB 4728, to update regulatory frameworks and establish guardrails to safeguard services for people with developmental disabilities from asset managers such as private equity firms. The bills require more transparency from disability services agencies owned by private equity firms about their ownership structures, intentions to sell licensed providers, and prohibits firms from engaging in certain financial activities and transactions that have a reasonable likelihood of causing the agency to become financially distressed, among other things.

These bills represent an important opportunity for Illinois to rein in the concerning growth of private equity buyouts in a crucial sector whose patients and their families should not have to bear the brunt of the pursuit of cost cutting for the sake of huge short term profits for private equity executives. 

Private equity firms have increasingly set their sights on companies which provide a wide range of IDD services and supports, from residential facilities, home care, and fiscal intermediary services to adult day programs and occupational and physical therapy, quietly acquiring and consolidating what were previously small, independent firms. Through recent buyouts and consolidation, several large private equity-owned companies have emerged with tens of thousands of employees at numerous locations across the United States. In some cases, these companies have achieved regional market concentration obscured by complex ownership structures and disparate branding.

In recent years, a number of private equity-owned providers of services for individuals with IDD have faced criticism, investigations, and in some instances closures over poor patient conditions, garnering attention of legislators that seek to create guardrails around private equity’s worst practices to protect patients and workers. 

In March, 2025, PESP released a detailed report on private equity in intellectual and developmental disability services that highlights the concerning track records of multiple private equity-owned IDD providers across the United States, including three firms operating in Illinois. 

Lawmakers, journalists, and regulators have honed in on private equity firms, because the industry’s business model is driven uniquely by high profit-seeking combined with a very limited level of disclosure or regulation. Firms typically seek to double or triple the value of their investment in 4-7 years, which is challenging to do in IDD services without cutting costs in a way that compromises the quality of care. In a sector where companies provide such encompassing and essential services, private equity’s entrance threatens to exacerbate the social and health inequalities that people with IDD already face.

Continued

Lawmakers introduce bill to reverse Medicaid cuts, expand Medicare benefits   

By Jakob Emerson, Becker's Payer Issues, March 2, 2026

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced legislation March 2 that would reverse the Medicaid and ACA changes enacted under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and expand Medicare to cover dental, vision and hearing services for seniors.

The “Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act” would repeal the bulk of the 2025 reconciliation law’s healthcare provisions, effectively reversing impending work requirements for Medicaid enrollees, the tightened eligibility redetermination schedule, restrictions on immigrant eligibility, and new limits on provider taxes and state-directed payments. It would also restore the expired enhanced ACA premium tax credits by removing the 400% federal poverty level income cap.

The bill would pay for its provisions through a 5% annual wealth tax on individuals with a net worth exceeding $1 billion, which Mr. Sanders’ office estimates would raise approximately $4.4 trillion over a decade. Besides the healthcare provisions, the bill would also fund $3,000 per-person direct payments to households earning $150,000 or less, more than $856 billion for affordable housing over 10 years, a $60,000 minimum salary for public school teachers, and a childcare program ensuring no family pays more than 7% of their income on child care.

Medicaid reversal

The proposal arrives as health systems and insurers nationwide have been voicing concern over the financial toll of the reconciliation law on patients and state Medicaid programs. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated H.R. 1 will reduce federal Medicaid spending by $911 billion over 10 years and that up to 10 million people could lose coverage.

Continued

Ireland

What’s to become of intellectually disabled people when caregiver family members die? 

By Victoria White, Irish Times, March 2, 2026

Lobby group Before We Die claims more than 1,500 such adults live full-time with a parent aged over 70

Caroline Roche’s daughters brought her out for coffee and put the question to her straight. What was going to happen to their 31-year-old intellectually disabled sister when Caroline could no longer look after her?

“I burst into tears and started asking questions such as: ‘Who would give her Bunny at night except me?’

My daughters felt terrible, but I told them they were right to raise it. I needed to face this.”

Four years ago, Caroline’s husband Michael dropped dead. At 62, Caroline now cares full-time for Helena, who has Down syndrome, autism, epilepsy, and finds it increasingly difficult to walk.

Helena, devastated by her dad’s death, clings to her mother “like a sticking plaster”.

“It’s beginning to feel like a life sentence,” admits Caroline.

Helena goes to a St Michael’s House day service in Dublin, but currently has no firm prospect of ever leaving home.

Caroline sees other widows and widowers living free lives, while she is stuck at home, except for a few hours helping on a bus for children with special needs in order to make ends meet. What concerns her more than that, however, is that if something happens to her, Helena will lose her home and her only caregiver at the same time.

Caroline’s story is not unusual. In Ireland, hundreds of intellectually disabled adults are cared for full-time by ageing parents. A new lobby group with the self-explanatory name Before We Die claims that more than 1,500 intellectually disabled adults are living full-time with a parent who is over 70 years of age – and, of these, 450 live with a parent who is over 80. The group’s founder, Tony Murray, says he is aware of three full-time carers in their 90s.

Tony (70) and his wife Susan Corrigan (69) care full-time for their 42-year-old daughter Aoife, who is intellectually disabled due to a rare chromosomal disorder. Aoife needs help with every aspect of her life.

Susan describes the plan for Aoife’s future as “a void”. She compares this with the care shown to her late sister Aileen, born in 1965, who had an unrelated chromosomal disorder. “There was a complete ethos of care. But care is illegal now. It’s all about inclusion. ‘Let’s pretend everyone is the same’ has become embedded as an ethos in this country.”

Continued

Idaho - Families Defend Disability Services Amid Medicaid Cuts

By Bram Sable-Smith, KFF Health News, March 2, 2026  

Families of Idahoans with disabilities say their lives could be upended as lawmakers in the state’s Republican-dominated legislature mull sweeping cuts.

Services at risk include the 24/7 care that allows a 39-year-old with cerebral palsy to live independently; the in-home caregiving that lets a 26-year-old with brain damage from a hemorrhage at birth stay in his family home; and private duty nursing for a 19-year-old with cerebral palsy who has qualified for hospice care for complications including pulmonary decline from a spinal cord injury.

Concerns for such care arose when Idaho Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, proposed cutting $22 million from Medicaid — the joint state-federal health insurance program for people with low incomes or disabilities — to balance the state budget. Home- and community-based services such as caregiving, nursing, and residential rehabilitation are optional under Medicaid, and Little listed them as possible targets for the cuts.

Across the country, people with disabilities and their families are confronting similar plans to cut Medicaid as states grapple with budget challenges compounded by congressional Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is expected to reduce federal spending on Medicaid by nearly $1 trillion over the next decade.

A four-hour town hall on the proposal in Idaho drew more than 500 people to the state capitol. Colorado lawmakers heard hours of testimony from concerned residents before pausing a pay cut for family caregivers. In Missouri, families raised alarms about a proposed $80.7 million cut to services for people with disabilities.

“We saw this coming. We’ve tried to educate members of Congress,” said Kim Musheno, the senior director of Medicaid policy at The Arc, a national disability rights organization.

“Whenever there’s pressure on state budgets like those that are caused by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, they go after Medicaid, and then they go after optional services,” Musheno said.

Many cuts included in the GOP bill, which President Donald Trump signed into law in July, haven’t yet taken effect, but the law is already impacting state budgets, particularly in states that align their tax rules with federal regulations.

Continued

Iowa - Trump’s Cuts to Medicaid Threaten Services That Help Disabled People Live at Home

By Tony Leys, KFF Health News via Iowa Capital Dispatch, March 2, 2026  

Leisa and Kent Walker recently received a disturbing notice: The private company managing their son’s Medicaid coverage intends to cut nearly 40% of what it spends for caregivers who help him live at home instead of in a nursing home.

Sam Walker, 35, has severe autism and other disabilities. He is deaf and cannot speak. Sometimes when he’s frustrated, he hits himself or others.

Medicaid provides about $8,500 a month for health workers who visit his apartment in the basement of his parents’ home. The staffers help him with everyday tasks, including dressing, bathing, and eating.

They also take Walker on outings, such as dining at restaurants, volunteering at Goodwill, and exercising at a recreation center or on park trails. They stick to a strict routine, which soothes him.

His parents say that without the in-home services, their son would need to move to a specialized residential facility in another state. Sending him away would break their hearts and cost taxpayers much more money. They strive to keep him home because they know change makes him anxious.

“The last thing I want is to put him into some kind of care facility, where he’ll just get kicked out,” said his mother, Leisa. The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to KFF Health News’ questions about the Walkers’ case.

Continued

Missouri lawmakers explore options to restore disability services funding

By Steph Quinn, Missouri Independent, via KSDK, February 27, 2026

Hundreds of Missourians with disabilities, their families and advocates crowded into the Capitol rotunda Wednesday for a rally on the state’s 25th annual Disability Rights Legislative Day, spilling into surrounding halls and onto the stairs framing the speakers’ podium.

Personal testimony from dozens of Missourians earlier this month moved a bipartisan group of lawmakers to pledge to restore $80.7 million in cuts to disability care services recommended in Gov. Mike Kehoe’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2027.

Suzie Parker, president of People First of Missouri, told the gathering that their stories are why lawmakers are scrambling to find funding for the services, which help people with disabilities live safely in their homes and participate actively in their communities.

“The impact is our story,” Parker said. “The impact is what [lawmakers] will take when they are arguing the bills on the House floor and how they affect our lives.”

Kehoe’s spending plan would cut $6.2 million in state spending on self-directed supports, a Medicaid program allowing individuals with disabilities or their families to hire and train specialized care staff. It would also slash $21.9 million in general revenue funding from structured group day programs, called day habilitation, and eliminate two other services, including one designed to help people with disabilities more independently navigate their communities.

In an online meeting of the Missouri SDS Family Support Group this week, steering committee member Larry Opinsky told more than a hundred attendees that as the House Budget Committee contemplates amendments to Kehoe’s budget, the time had come to focus on the Senate.

“This is a significant, significant thing that we’ve done in the House,” he said, “and [that] we’re planning on doing in the Senate.”

Like Parker, Opinsky said showing lawmakers the impact of the cuts has interrupted the routine of the Capitol.

“Jeff City operates on a regular basis with corporate lobbying,” Opinsky said. “…They are not used to hearing from individual families and stories from every corner of the state.”

Continued

North Carolina - A Triad nonprofit plans a unique housing development that celebrates people’s differences.

By Tucker Mitchell, Business NC, February 27, 2026

While the world in general bubbles and boils with endless conflict, a small nonprofit based northeast of Greensboro wonders why we can’t set aside our differences and get along.

And not just get along, but live together. Literally. Like next door, in the same neighborhood.

Peacehaven Farm is a charitable organization focused on improving the lives of adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD). It is building a unique residential community on an 89-acre farm just south of I-40/85 between Greensboro and Burlington. The development will include a 22,000-square-foot community center that is under construction and expected to open in 2027. Plans call for eventually adding a medical clinic, classroom space, a working farm and housing for a diverse community of about 200 people. Construction on the first home is likely to start by 2029, and folks moving in by 2030. Details on the size and cost of homes are not finalized.

By design, about 40% of the population will consist of adults with I/DD of all descriptions. They’ll be nestled amongst a bunch of folks of more common ability who choose to live in a beautiful rural setting and a community that embraces “being different together.”

“Normal people” living alongside I/DD? On purpose? Neal Sharpe, Peacehaven’s chief operating officer, notes that Peacehaven’s basic proposition takes some getting used to.

“It does produce some odd expressions on people’s faces,” he says. “But, if you think about it, it’s not that different from the way the world operates now. There are always neighbors who are different. Some of them may be adults with I/DD. The difference here is that this is more intentional. We think this is a better way for everyone.”

It will certainly be better for the 80 or so I/DD adults who will live at Peacehaven. They typically require life-living assistance, supervision, or even round-the-clock care, and face myriad challenges. When they turn 22, they are no longer eligible to attend public schools.

That cut-off, known as “The Cliff” in the I/DD world, eliminates an important source of social integration and daily structure. Most I/DD individuals are mainstreamed in public schools these days, attending classes and participating in activities with the general population. That has been the law since the federal individuals with Disabilities Education Act passed in 1975.

When those individuals go over “The Cliff,” their world changes. Many withdraw into a tiny world populated by only their closest relatives. The result is not positive, says Peacehaven CEO Phelps Sprinkle, who is the father of Roxie, an I/DD child.

 “Life becomes more difficult in so many ways,” he says. “Mental health issues spike and then things often spiral from there. It’s one of the biggest problems — maybe the biggest problem — that I/DD adults face.”

That is why Peacehaven exists.

“What we’re doing here,” says Sprinkle, “is solving for isolation.” 

Continued

Louisiana is fighting Biden-era rule on disability treatment. It shouldn’t be.

By Katie Corkern, NOLA .com, February 27, 2026

My son Connor is a young man with severe disabilities. He lives at home because he receives services through a Home and Community-Based Services, or HCBS, waiver. That waiver is not a bonus program. It is what allows him to wake up in his own bed, spend evenings with his brothers playing video games and remain part of our community instead of living in an institution.

On Jan. 23, Louisiana and eight other states renewed their attack on Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act — this time targeting a core disability civil rights protection known as the integration mandate. The lawsuit, Texas v. Kennedy, claims the Biden administration’s 2024 update to Section 504 is unconstitutional, objecting to the requirement that states provide services in the “most integrated setting.”

The states argue the rule exceeds congressional authority, improperly expands federal control over Medicaid systems and could require costly restructuring.

But the integration mandate is not new. Section 504 has prohibited disability discrimination since 1973. Federal regulations have required integrated settings for decades. In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed in Olmstead v. L.C. that unjustified segregation is discrimination.

The 2024 update did not invent this principle. It clarified how it applies in modern Medicaid and health systems. Claims that it “upends decades of federal disability law” ignore that the integration mandate has been settled law for nearly half a century.

The law does not require community placement in every case. It recognizes that what is appropriate depends on the individual and allows states to consider available resources. It does not demand changes that would fundamentally alter programs.

But it does set a boundary: Segregated settings cannot be the default, and policies cannot create a serious risk of institutionalization simply because community services are underfunded or inconvenient.

Louisiana should be strengthening community services, not joining lawsuits that question the legal foundation that protects them.

Read the full article here

Report shows 4,246 abuse allegations, 15 deaths in Connecticut's disability system in 2024

By Lisa Backus, CT Insider, February 27, 2026

There were 15 deaths as part of more than 4,000 allegations of abuse or neglect of individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities reported to the state Department of Developmental Services in 2024, according to a state mandated report issued recently. 

There was no immediate information on the deaths in the report other than that they had occurred in 2024 among people who qualified for DDS services and were considered as allegations of abuse and neglect. 

It was unclear whether the people who died had been living in group homes or state facilities funded or run by DDS or were living at home with family and were under the agency's purview because they qualified for DDS services. 

In the five years prior to 2024, about 50% to 55% of abuse and neglect allegations were substantiated, figures provided by the agency showed. The number of abuse or neglect allegations has risen from 2,627 in 2019 to 4,246 in 2024, the agency said. The number of allegations dipped during the pandemic to 1,787 in 2020 and 2,082 in 2021 before rising to 2,457 in 2022 and 3,521 in 2023, according to the data. 

Read the full article here

Note: Unfortunately, we were unable to find any links to the report, even on the State of Connecticut DDS website.

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VOR ❤️s OUR

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Our loved ones' caregivers are essential to their health, safety, and happiness.

In appreciation of their good work and kind hearts, VOR offers free digital memberships to any DSP who would like to receive our newsletter.

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[Please click on blue link to view information about the bill]

VOR SUPPORTS:

H.R.6137 / S.3211 - Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-NJ) and Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) - A bill to require the Office of Management and Budget to consider revising the Standard Occupational Classification system to establish a separate code for direct support professionals

H.R.6766 / S.3492 - Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) - Essential Caregivers Act - To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to require skilled nursing facilities, nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities for the intellectually disabled, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities to permit essential caregivers access during any period in which regular visitation is restricted.

H.R.4796 - Rep. Laura Friedman (D-CA) - Restoring Essential Healthcare Act -To amend Public Law 119-21 (The One Big Beautiful Bill Act) to repeal the prohibition on making payments under the Medicaid program to certain entities.

H.R.4807 - Rep Greg Landsman (D-OH) - Protect Our Hospitals Act - To amend Public Law 119-21 to repeal certain changes to provider taxes under the Medicaid program. 

H.R.1262 & S.932 - Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) "Give Kids A Chance Act" - To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to molecularly targeted pediatric cancer investigations. This bill would renew research into pediatric cancers and includes increasing funding for rare diseases, some of which cause Intellual and developmental disabilities and autism.  

H.R.1509 & S.752 - Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA) & Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

Accelerating Kids' Access to Care Act -

This bill would amend titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act to streamline the enrollment process for eligible out-of-state providers under Medicaid and CHIP, and streamline enrollment under the Medicaid program of certain providers across State lines.

H.R.2598 & S.1277 - Rep Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Sen Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) The IDEA Full Funding Act

To amend part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to provide full Federal funding of such part.

S.2279 - Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO)

A bill to repeal the changes to Medicaid State provider tax authority and State directed payments made by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and provide increased funding for the rural health transformation program.

H.R.1950 - Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) - Protect Social Security and Medicare Act

To protect benefits provided under Social Security, Medicare, and any other program of benefits administered by the Social Security Administration or the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

S.779 & H.R.1735 - Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) & Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX)

To amend title XIX of the Public Health Service Act to provide for prevention and early intervention services under the Block Grants for Community Mental Health Services program

H.R.2491 & S.1227 - Rep Kat Cammack (R-FL) & Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) - The ABC Act

To require the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Commissioner of Social Security to review and simplify the processes, procedures, forms, and communications for family caregivers to assist individuals in establishing eligibility for, enrolling in, and maintaining and utilizing coverage and benefits under the Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Social Security programs



VOR OPPOSES:

H.R.2743 & S.1332 - Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) & Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Raise the Wage Act - A bill to provide increases to the Federal minimum wage and for other purposes. VOR opposes the provision in this bill that would phase out section 14(c) and sheltered workshops for indiviiduals with I/DD and autism.

S.2438 - Transformation to Competitive Employment Act (Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) - A bill to assist employers providing employment under special certificates issued under section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 in transforming their business and program models to models that support people with disabilities through competitive integrated employment, to phase out the use of such special certificates, and for other purposes. 

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