Waiting for help: More than 21K of Floridians with developmental disabilities stuck in backlog
The Brief
Over 21,000 of Florida's most vulnerable citizens have been waitlisted despite needing critical care.
Many with developmental disabilities qualify for home support services through a program called the iBudget Waiver.
The agency that runs the service blames the backlog on a lack of funds.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - More than 21,000 of Florida's most vulnerable citizens need help but do not receive it due to a backlog in the state government.
The backstory
They have developmental disabilities and qualify for home support services through Medicaid under a program called the iBudget Waiver.
It currently serves more than 35,000 enrollees but has a waitlist of more than 21,000 others. The average wait has been eight and a half years.
Florida's Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) manages the backlog, tying it to a lack of funds.
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It would cost around $1.2 billion to get everyone off the waitlist. Families on the waitlist note they have waited for help as the state received large surpluses in revenue and placed billions of dollars in reserve.
At the same time, the legislature specifically allocated millions to APD to reduce the waitlist. However, it has not gone down and APD did not spend much of the money it received.
What they're saying
"$360 million is being recommended to revert reappropriate this year when we've appropriated an average of $88 million over the past four years to pull people off the waitlist," said Escambia State Rep. Alex Andrade during a Florida House subcommittee hearing on March 12.
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APD did not spend $360 million, and it was allocated to reduce the backlog because managers say that people already being served may have growing needs and they don't want to run out of money.
Dig deeper
Former APD leader Jim DeBeaugrine said APD should not be concerned about that because the state projects the needs of current enrollees for the future and accordingly budgets for those needs.
If APD had spent the $360 million as lawmakers intended, there would also have been a larger share of matching federal funds, totaling more than $800 million.
"At some point, you need some services to help you, and I'm doing the job of a lot of people," said Yasmina Halim.
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Her 12-year-old daughter Lily is developmentally disabled and terminally ill. Struggling as she waited, Halim made the painful decision to give up her place in line and place her daughter in institutional care (which could cost taxpayers more than the home-based support she was waiting for).
However, due to the complexity of Lily's health, the scale of her disabilities and a shortage of service providers, they were unable to find an institution that would accept her.
Big picture view
The state then agreed to provide home-based services based on her crisis.
Other families with pressing needs fail to get out of the queue due to the crisis.
The Source
FOX 13 Chief Political Investigator Craig Patrick collected the information in this story.
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