Georgians with disabilities, advocates describe an urgent need for support

Credit: Adobe Stock photo

Families of and advocates for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are asking lawmakers to consider adding more money to the state’s budget for programs that provide home care services.   

They say there are 1,217 people in Georgia in urgent need of Medicaid-funded New Options Waiver (NOW) and Comprehensive Supports Waiver Program (COMP), which help pay for daily support at home or in community homes.  

Administered by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, the waivers help cover the cost of therapy, nutrition services, employment support and other services.  

For Earlice Acey and her 23-year-old daughter Trinity, having a COMP waiver would allow Trinity to get assistance with transportation, and give her the chance to apply to college.  

“Her being able to have a fulfilling life is very important, just like any other student and any other child,” Acey said during a visit to the Georgia Capitol. “She deserves to have these opportunities.” 

Acey said her daughter has been on the wait list for a waiver for 11 years. That’s not uncommon, says D’Arcy Robb, executive director of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, a nonprofit advocacy and lobbying organization that has for years been asking the Legislature to increase investment in IDD services.  

Some of those calls have been answered. The governor’s fiscal year 2025 budget included funding to make permanent 500 so-called waiver slots, a far larger increase than years prior, and a $107 million investment that led to a much needed rate-hike for the health care providers of people with disabilities.  

But overall, state funding for IDD services has remained relatively stagnant, and the need for the support services NOW/COMP waivers offer has only gone up. 

“It is very common for us to hear from parents that they've had to leave their jobs, and it put the family in economic peril,” Robb said. “We have Georgians who are dropped off in emergency rooms. We have Georgians who are homeless.” 

Over 7,000 disabled Georgians are on the wait list for NOW/COMP waivers. Many are adults with aging or single caretakers. Robb said they, along with seniors, are considered urgently in need. 

• RELATED: Affordable housing is hard to find. For people with disabilities, solutions can feel like a miracle 

The 2027 state budget includes funding for 150 new NOW/COMP waiver slots, and 100 annualized waiver slots, a fraction of what Robb, Acey and others are asking for.  

The Legislature has until April to finalize the budget.