ICYMI: Shapiro Administration Celebrated for Progress Reducing ID/A Waitlist | Department of Human Services | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Harrisburg, PA - Recently, the Shapiro Administration's dedication to the intellectual disability and autism community were commended in an opinion piece highlighting the continued investments for ID/A services and the ID/A workforce in Governor Josh Shapiro's 2026-27 proposed budget. This year's proposed investments are part of a multi-year growth strategy to expand access to home and community-based services and effectively end the emergency waiting list for adults.

Since the Governor's historic investment of $354.8 million in federal and state funding secured in the 2024-25 budget, there has been a 31 percent reduction in the ID/A adult emergency waiting list for services. Approximately 42,000 Pennsylvanians currently receive services in their home and community. An essential part of this strategy includes targeted investments in the direct support professional (DSP) workforce who serve the ID/A community. Investments in service rates are enabling providers to increase wages and support recruitment efforts, leading to the lowest job vacancy rate for DSPs since 2015.

Here's what advocates are saying about the Governor's critical investments in the ID/A community:

Gov. Shapiro reduces waiting list for people with intellectual disabilities, but the work continues | Opinion - pennlive.com

By Gary Blumenthal

The recent announcement from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and Gov. Josh Shapiro's office that the state has reduced the emergency waiting list for Home and Community Based Services by 31 percent is not just another press release. That is a significant policy achievement.

For years, the intellectual disability and autism community in Pennsylvania waited for a governor who understood these issues and was committed to the concerns of people with ID/A and willing to guide the passage of additional funding to address those needs.

Before Shapiro's administration, the ID/A community felt they were never heard, never fully understood, and rarely a priority issue for the General Assembly.

The ID/A community, before the Shapiro Administration, could go years, sometimes decades, without the desperately needed substantive funding increases.

The Shapiro Administration's 31 percent reduction in the emergency waiting list is a significant policy achievement. It is significant because, for years, the waiting list grew as families hoped that past governors and legislators would address their needs. Many families came to believe that nothing would ever change.

But finally, since the passage of the FY 24/25 budget and subsequent budgets, the state's emergency waiting list has been reduced, not increased.

That did not happen by accident.

It reflects the leadership of Gov. Shapiro and the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Dr. Val Arkoosh, who met with people with ID/A, their families, and Direct Support Professionals, who are the workforce and frontline supporting people with disabilities living in their homes.

That kind of understanding matters.

I have written before about helping arrange a meeting with Governor Shapiro and the family of Matt Jennings. Matt is an adult with significant disabilities. His mom, Cindy Smith Jennings, and his grandmother, Judy Smith, have served as his Direct Support Professionals to make up for the days and hours that the state was unable to provide support for years.

Cindy is in her 60's. Judy is in her 80's.

They are still doing this work. Being a family member serving as a DSP, especially in those circumstances, can be more than exhausting. Gov. Shapiro listened to them. He was deeply moved by what he heard.

And that meeting helped reinforce something this administration has continued to focus on: that families should not be left to carry this responsibility because of the Commonwealth's insufficient funding. Since that meeting, support for the Jennings family has increased, but not to the level Matt requires or is entitled to, given his individual needs.

The commitment of the governor and Dr. Arkoosh to reduce the emergency waiting list has continued with each of his successive budgets. There has been a consistent focus on addressing the waiting list and continued advocacy for higher wages for Direct Support Professionals.

While DSP wages have increased during the Shapiro Administration, they still fall short of a living wage. As a result, too many Direct Support Professionals remain dependent on overtime and second or third jobs. That is not how you build a stable workforce or ensure quality services and supports.

If the Commonwealth is serious about this, the governor and the General Assembly will need to make significant further investments in DSP wages so people can stay in this profession, because the relationship between quality and wages is straightforward. It is direct.

At the same time, all of this has been happening while the Trump Administration has made substantial and cruel reductions in funding to Medicaid programs, weakening ID/A and other human services and supports.

While federal support has gone down, the Shapiro Administration has stood firm. Governor Shapiro and Secretary Arkoosh have kept their commitment. They have continued outreach. They have continued to push forward. That has not always been the case.

For many years, the ID/A community did not feel like a priority issue for the General Assembly. That has changed, at least in part, because of the focus this administration has brought to it, along with the strong voices of families, DSPs,and the provider community.

But we should be honest about where things stand.

Reducing the waiting list is a tremendous achievement.

But for many families, the services they receive are still available for fewer hours than needed by the individual and their families.

That gap is still real.

And that is why the Governor and Secretary continue to urge the General Assembly to recognize the long-term needs of this community, not just make short-term investments.

To keep the Commonwealth's promise to people with ID/A, their families, and Direct Support Professionals, sustained commitment will be required.

But clearly, the process begun by Gov. Shapiro and Secretary Arkoosh is making a difference.

It is making a difference in the lives of people with ID/A.

It is making a difference for families.

And it is making a difference for a workforce that has waited far too long to be recognized.

Now the question is whether the Commonwealth will stay with it.

Gary Blumenthal, a federal disability official in the Clinton and Obama Administrations and a former member of the Kansas House of Representatives.