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DD Waiting Lists

Vision/Goal:

All people with developmental disabilities will have immediate* access to the community services and supports that they need and want from the 51.42/.437/HSD system.

*For non-emergency, non-urgent service and support needs, no person shall have to wait more than 60-90 days to receive those services and/or supports.

Background:

Heightened concerns about the number, length and growth of waiting lists in particular and continued inadequate funding for community services in general were among the issues that were most frequently mentioned at the public hearings and prioritized /written about in the survey responses. Nearly one out of every five public hearing participants testified about their waiting list concerns and the effect of waiting lists on their lives, while one out of every two who testified spoke about shortfalls in community service funding, imminent budget cuts, and/or waiting lists.

The emphasis on waiting list concerns was even more pronounced in the written survey comments. Eighty-eight survey respondents (one in every 3.5 respondents) wrote about waiting lists and the urgent need to obtain funding that will lead to the significant reduction/elimination of the waiting lists, and one out of every 2.5 respondents discussed funding issues generally - inadequate allocations, inadequate rates, frozen funding levels, actual or threatened budget cuts, and the resulting waiting lists.

In Wisconsin, over 2,000 children/families and 4,000 adults are now on official DD waiting lists, and these numbers have been growing. Public hearing testifiers and survey respondents spoke and wrote with compelling conviction about the impact of waiting lists on families needing help from the Family Support Program, young adults transitioning from school to adult services, older adults living at home with elderly parents, parents/families who decided years ago not to institutionalize their child/family member with developmental disabilities, and individuals/families of various racial/ethnic groups from all areas of the state.

Objective:

By 2003, most county 51.42/.437/HSD waiting lists for DD community services/supports will be eliminated as the result of the enactment into law of a statewide DD Waiting List Initiative. This initiative, phased in over the 4 year period 2001 - 2005, will be fully implemented in 2005. Full implementation includes an annual increase in the approved state budget of approximately $115 million ($50 million state GPR, $65 million federal), either through a specific DD Waiting List line item allocation or an alternative strategy that yields the same or better results.

Funding:

$150,000/year

Collaborators:

The Arc-Wisconsin, Wisconsin Coalition for Advocacy, People First Wisconsin, Wisconsin Counties Human Services Association, United Cerebral Palsy - Wisconsin, Autism Society of Wisconsin, Family Voices, Rehabilitation for Wisconsin, Wisconsin Personal Services Alternatives, Survival Coalition, Bureau of Aging, area agencies on aging, private non-profit rep(s), and others as appropriate.

Strategies:

1. Through a partnership with The Arc-Wisconsin, WCDD will participate in and/or contract for the following project elements and activities:
   • Establish and staff a steering committee to
   1. coordinate all policy and advocacy strategies to achieve state-level enactment and implementation of the DD Waiting List Initiative and
   2. monitor/develop strategies to address other community services funding issues (e.g., community aids, CIP, COP, Birth-3, Family Support, MA, etc.)
   • Project coordinator
   • Statewide organizer
   • Research/data/issue and policy papers; materials for drafting the legislation
   • Outreach to people on waiting lists:
   1. develop a database of people on waiting lists
   2. develop opportunities for people to share their stories in multiple ways
   • F. Public awareness: Purchase informational materials to target the mass media, e.g. newspaper ads, PSAs for radio and TV, materials for newspaper editorial boards, letters to the editor, policy paper summaries
   • Training and small-group advocacy:
   1. training at grass-roots level (costs include travel expenses)
   2. small group advocacy activities (e.g., get-togethers of people to write letters which request additional state funding, request outside reviews, register complaints, etc.)
2. In collaboration with the steering committee (1A above), WCDD will develop the following public awareness materials/content:
   • Develop newspaper stories with accurate data backed up by research that tells personal or family stories (contract with journalist/reporter/writer)
   • Develop informational materials to target the mass media, e.g., newspaper ads, PSAs for radio and TV, materials for newspaper editorial boards, letters to the editor, policy paper summaries
   • Develop attention-getting items for advocates to use when discussing the issue with decision-makers, e.g., brochure, stories booklet, buttons, fact sheet cards
3. In collaboration with the steering committee (1A above), WCDD will implement the following legislative advocacy/coalition building/DAWN activities:
   • Fund 6-10 DAWN mini-grants to local organizations specifically addressing strategies to achieve the state-level adoption of the DD Waiting List Initiative (e.g., connecting waiting list families with legislators, letter-writing campaigns, etc.)
   • Link to DAWN for website, email alerts, newsletter, grass-roots DAWN mini-grant applications, etc.