CA now serves over 430,000 people with I/DD. About 55% are adults and 41% diagnosed with autism. How are we going to meet the increasing demand of IDD housing and services? 1: Congress needs to amend the 2010 Frank Melville Investment Act and remove the 25% limit on HUD's Section 811, which has created an unnecessary barrier and impeded the much needed growth of disability housing. 2: State & Federal HHS agencies must recognize that no one size fits all. Support Medicaid funding for all quality options including site-based services in disability-specific settings. The policy of not allowing individuals with I/DD to live, work and associate with other with I/DD is pure discrimination and it's actually harming people, not helping them. This must stop now. 3. The I/DD community does not have access to capital the way other special needs population does (i.e. homeless, disabled veterans, etc.). Our community needs to come together and create access to capital to stimulate growth in creating more quality options. Let's make this happen! Please join us!
ALERT At the close of 2023, California’s DDS autism caseload hit a staggering 177,400; compare that to 3,000 in the 1980s. The surge over 2022 was a whopping 11% (even as overall state population declined). We are witnessing a silent catastrophe of epic proportions—one not caused by “awareness” or diagnostic shifts. The CA DDS system only serves those with significant functional impairment, a fraction of the overall autism population. https://lnkd.in/g3zYNAUs