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DHS shortens lengthy waiting list for people with developmental disabilities awaiting community-based services

Daily Oklahoman - 9/8/2020

Sep. 8--The Oklahoma Department of Human Services is using $1.9 million in earmarked funds from the Oklahoma Legislature to provide community-based services to 270 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities who have been on a waiting list for more than a decade.

About 5,800 people remain on the waiting list, so the agency continues to fall far short of being able to serve everyone awaiting services.

"With this funding, OKDHS will begin working with families who have been waiting for services since June 2007," the agency said in a news release.

Families traditionally have been placed on the list on a first-come, first-served basis, although individuals on the list are eligible for and often receive services from other programs while they are waiting, an agency official said.

State Sen. Paul Rosino, a strong advocate of providing additional funding for the program, said he believes providing additional funds has always been a legislative priority, but budget constraints have often prevented lawmakers from doing as much as they'd like.

In addition to earmarking $1.92 million in funding for the program this year, lawmakers directed DHS to contract with a third party to obtain a standardized assessment of individuals on the waiting list to be used for future funding requests.

Since some people have been on the list as long as 13 years, it's difficult to know how many of those families are still in need of services, said Beth Scrutchins, director of developmental disability services for DHS.

Providing services for 5,800 additional people could cost upwards of $45 million, but DHS workers are discovering when they call people that many no longer need services after a 13-year wait, Scrutchins said. Many have moved out of state or found other alternatives, she said.

"At this point, we're probably closing as many cases as we're opening, so ... that's why we're so anxious to have a vendor that can come in and get a true assessment for us so we can say how much funding we need to work the waiting list," she said.

"I think what this assessment will do is ... provide quality data that's going to tell us how the list should work and what we should be doing to be sure ... we're being efficient and caring about individuals on the list," said Rosino, R-Oklahoma City.

Rosino said Oklahoma is ranked second in the nation for employing individuals with developmental disabilities who have an IQ below 70, and he believes that is something that should make Oklahomans proud.

"Sixty-four percent of the people in our programs work and contribute to their communities," Scrutchins said.

Scrutchins said the Department of Education provides a wide range of services to children with developmental disabilities during their school years, but DHS services become critical to families as children become adults and age out of that system.

"It's important that these families have a plan for these kids when they get out of high school so that they can continue on the forward momentum that they've made so the families aren't in crisis after they graduate," Rosino said.

"We feel like it stabilizes Oklahoma families," Scrutchins said. "It allows parents to be able to maintain employment. It allows their children to continue on with their life journey."

Oklahoma Department of Human Services Director Justin Brown said he is grateful to Gov. Kevin Stitt and the Legislature for providing funds to serve additional people who have been on the waiting list.

"Moving our customers from the waiting list to community-based services that are tailored to each individual's needs are critical to their well-being and independence, and provides hope to their families," Brown said. "OKDHS will continue to advocate for the elimination of the waiting list so that all individuals can receive the services they need within their own communities."

At the end of fiscal year 2019, nearly 7,800 Oklahomans were served by one or more developmental disabilities programs and nearly 5,300 individuals received Medicaid home and community-based services through a waiver program, the agency said.

The agency is able to provide home-based services to these individuals at 26% to 32% of the annual cost of providing services through private intermediate care facilities, officials said.

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