Action is needed!
In the House budget proposal, only 10 percent of high school transition grads with DD would get employment supports. Negotiators
from the House and Senate are meeting now to reconcile their budget proposals.
Please contact lead budget negotiators (their email addresses are below) and share the following message:
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Dear budget negotiating team,
Don’t leave DD high school grads behind! Please support the funding level in the Senate operations budget for transition graduates with developmental disabilities who desire employment services on the Basic Plus waiver.
Sincerely,
Don’t leave DD high school grads behind! Please support the funding level in the Senate operations budget for transition graduates with developmental disabilities who desire employment services on the Basic Plus waiver.
Sincerely,
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Please send your message to:
House budget negotiators
- Rep. Ormsby, Timm.Ormsby@leg.wa.gov
- Rep. Robinson, June.Robinson@leg.wa.gov
- Rep. Berquist, Steve.Berquist@leg.wa.gov
- Speaker Chopp, Frank.Chopp@leg.wa.gov
- Rep. Sullivan, Pat.Sullivan@leg.wa.gov
- Rep. Stokesbary, Drew.Stokesbary@leg.wa.gov
Senate budget negotiators
- Senator Brown, Sharon.Brown@leg.wa.gov
- Senator Rolfes, Christine.Rolfes@leg.wa.gov
- Senator Frockt, David.Frockt@leg.wa.gov
- Senator Braun, John.Braun@leg.wa.gov
- Senator Billig, Andy.Billig@leg.wa.gov
- Senator Schoesler, Mark.Schoesler@leg.wa.gov
You can also comment directly on the operating budget bill, HB 1109. These comments will go to your legislators, but not budget negotiators.
BACKGROUND
Access to employment supports available through the Developmental Disability Administration is key for young adults leaving high school transition
services. These supports are offered on the Basic Plus waiver, and typically
the state funds waiver slots for transition graduates who qualify and are interested
in supported employment.
This year, though, the House proposes funding for only 174 slots for transition
graduates. That is only about 10 percent of the 1,754 students who qualify for DDA services who will be graduating
in the next two years.
The Senate proposal
provides adequate funding.
These services are essential so young adults with developmental disabilities can learn
about employment, find a good job match, and access supports needed to stay in
that job.
The funding also acts as a mechanism to open new slots on DDA’s
Individual and Family Services waiver. As graduates move onto the Basic Plus
waiver, slots open for youths on the Individual and Family Supports waiver.
Without the investment, we see individuals waiting without appropriate services at a critical point in their lives.
If the House proposal prevails, this would be just the second
time in the past 25 years or so that there has not been adequate funding for
transition students. It would create longer waiting lists for DDA services.
OTHER DD FUNDING:
Click here for side by side comparison of DD funding in the
House and Senate proposals.
The operating budget bill, HB 1109, passed the House, was amended
and passed in the Senate, and is now in concurrence. Negotiators from both
chambers are deciding what stays in, and what is cut.
