Support those caring for state's most vulnerable
By The Herald Editorial Board
Among Washington state’s most vulnerable people are some 4,600 who live with significant intellectual and developmental disabilities, people who are dependent on the care of trained direct support professionals.
Those care workers, who number about 14,000, are almost entirely compensated through Medicaid funding, at a rate determined by Washington state. That’s meant a constant and regular push for funding, especially in budget years, before for the state Legislature. And this budget year may complicate the typical funding ask.
Lawmakers are facing a mandate from incoming Gov. Bob Ferguson, who has instructed state departments and agencies to make across-the-board 6 percent cuts, as the state looks to make up for a projected budget shortfall over the next four years between $10 billion and $15 billion.
“That’s going to make it difficult to get anything that’s desperately needed,” said Randy Hauck, executive director for Community Living, a Yakima-based nonprofit that provides supported living services.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-support-those-caring-for-states-most-vulnerable/