Our Top Priority For The 2026-27 Budget for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD).
Decades of inadequate funding caused severe staff shortages and left nonprofit provider agencies struggling to maintain facilities and provide quality care and support for New Yorkers with disabilities.
Recent investment by the state made progress toward addressing this crisis and stabilizing the system of care, but without sustained investment, that progress will be lost.
Following the release of the FY 2027 Executive Budget, we are calling on legislators to include the following priorities to support people with IDD in their one-house budget bills:
- Add an additional 1% Targeted Inflationary Increase (TII) to supplement the governors 1.7% TII, for a total of 2.7% to ensure funding accounts for the increased cost of living and providing services
- The Careforce Affordability Initiative to support affordable housing,
- Childcare and healthcare for direct care staff
- Include Part A of the Revenue Article VII bill to enhance the New York Child and Dependent Care Credit
Restart the OPWDD Healthcare Enhancement Program
The program would provide an eligible per-employee allocation of $2,500 to participating providers. Funds could be used to establish or enhance health insurance coverage or to reduce out-of-pocket costs for frontline staff—ensuring care workers can access affordable coverage without further straining nonprofit agency budgets
CLICK HERE To Tell the Legislature to Support People with Disabilities in One-House Budget Bills
We are fighting back against Federal cuts to Medicaid! - CLICK HERE TO TAKE ACTION
The Federal Government is in ongoing discussions about a spending plan that puts Medicaid funding at risk.
We need our elected representative to understand how critical Medicaid is to people with disabilities, and how devastating the proposed cuts would be to people they represent.
Any effort to change or otherwise reform the Medicaid program must consider the impact on people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities, in order to prevent unintended harmful consequences.
It is more important than ever that we mobilize our grassroots, engage our congressional delegation, and protect the critical supports and services people with intellectual and developmental disabilities rely on.
