ATLANTA (November 18, 2022) | This week, the Senate Study Committee on People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Waiver Plan Access, co-chaired by Senator Sally Harrell (D – Atlanta) and Senator John Albers (R – Roswell), held its fifth and final public hearing. Since its inception, the Committee heard testimony from dozens of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their caregivers, service providers, and advocacy groups in Atlanta, Rome, Tifton, and throughout the state via the Committee’s website.
“We are incredibly grateful to those that had the courage to stand up and tell their stories to our Committee. When you use your voice to speak up, you go from being absolutely invisible to the public, to giving these challenges the visibility it needs to create pressure on people who have the power to move forward and do something about it,” said Sen. Harrell. “Our hardest work is about to begin, because we have to take all these stories and turn it into action.”
The testimony highlighted the immense challenges that adults with disabilities face, including lack of resources for in-home and group care, difficulties navigating the system for IDD services, and inadequate funding for service providers. The Committee will issue a report with a set of recommendations to pursue in the upcoming legislative session. Committee co-Chairs expressed their commitment to continue this work on an ongoing basis beyond the current Study Committee.
The Senate Study Committee on People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Waiver Plan Access was established a result of Senate Resolution 770, sponsored by Sen. Harrell during the 2022 Legislative Session. The purpose of the Committee is to assess the impact of the growing demand for state services for adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities including Medicaid waiver access, shortfalls in the direct service provider workforce, and capital investment needs for worker training and housing facilities.
The recorded livestream of this week’s meeting can be found here. The Committee continues to encourage all interested parties to visit the Committee’s website here to provide additional testimony for the committee members to review, prior to December 14, 2022 when recommendations will be made in preparation for the 2023 Legislative Session.
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Sen. Sally Harrell represents the 40th Senate District which includes portions of DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett counties. She may be reached by phone at (404) 463-2260 or via email at sally.harrell@senate.ga.gov.