FY 14 DDA Budget Approved

The Maryland Legislative session culminated with a finalized FY14 budget that included nothing but favorable increases for the Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) budget. Below we have listed the highlights of the DDA budget.

(Click to review Maryland Association of Community Services' (MACS) or
The Arc Maryland's complete breakdown of the legislative session as it pertains to people with disabilities.) 

FY 2014 Budget Summary

In summary, the FY14 budget includes the following increases:

• $21.3 m for a 2.46% rate increase for community services
• $ 9.3 m to serve 608 Transitioning Youth
• $ 3 m for the 2nd of a 3-year plan to restore reverted funds (bringing total to $9.5m)
• $ 2.3 m for emergency supports
• $ 1.5 m through the Waiting List Equity Fund for people on the DDA Waiting List
• $ 1.1 m for court-ordered community services
• $ 950,000 for hold harmless payments related to absence day funding loss

Loss of Funding Shift for Contribution to Care

To address our concern regarding DHMH's intent to shift the loss of funding resulting from unpaid Contribution to Care from DDA to providers, the General Assembly will require DHMH to report to the budget committees no later than August 1, 2013:

• the process to be implemented by the Department to address instances in which the contribution to care is not paid to providers by  individuals receiving services or their representatives.
• the Department's role in addressing nonpayment of contribution to care costs and any requirements to be imposed on licensed developmental disabilities community providers to address nonpayment of contribution to care.
  
  

Developmental Disabilities Day Draws Hundreds to Annapolis

In February, some 450 advocates for people with developmental disabilities and their families assembled to hear from the Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown; legislators including Sen. Ed Kasemeyer, Sen. Middleton and Delegate Hubbard; self-advocates and leaders in their advocacy community; Secretary of the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene and DDA officials. Despite poor weather, the group, including nearly 50 participants from the Baltimore areas marched to the Lawyers Mall and then dispersed to meetings with legislators.

The legislative agenda for the Arc Baltimore and our coalition partners includes funding for transitioning youth, the Autism Waiver, and the waiting list.

The Arc Baltimore's position on issues before the 2013 Maryland General Assembly are outlined in the attached Arc Maryland Public Policy Platform.

Learning Your Way Around the Process

The State of Maryland provides great materials to help people who are new to the system. We recommend some of these references.

• An overview of the legislative process can be found here
• If you follow the budget, you may find the budget calendar of use
• If you want to track a particular funding stream, you can do so here
• If you want to correspond with a whole committee, you can write them from the website
• If you want to correspond with a single legislator, you can write them from the website
• Where do I go? A map of the government buildings and parking can be found here