December 08, 2021
Governor Spencer Cox
350 North State Street, Suite 200
PO Box 142220
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-2220
kathybounous@utah.gov; karenp@utah.gov
J. Stuart Adams
President – Utah State Senate
320 State Capitol
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114
jsadams@le.utah.gov
Brad Wilson
Speaker – Utah State House of Representatives
350 North State, Suite 350, P.O. Box 145030
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114
bradwilson@le.utah.gov
Sent via: Email
Re: HCBS Provider Staff Shortage
Dear Governor Cox, President Adams, and Speaker Wilson
As agencies that represent the interests of Utahns with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (ID/DD), we write to you today to urge you to take immediate action to address the staffing crisis affecting Medicaid waiver home and community-based “HCBS” services for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. People with disabilities across the state of Utah are unable to access services or are at risk of losing their services because of exponentially increasing turnover and vacancy rates for support staff. HCBS providers strive to provide high-quality care, help people be integrated, and ensure that people in services have direction over their lives, but the staff shortage is threatening this. Unless immediate action is taken, we fear the collapse of the service system for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Utah.
Because of our work serving people with disabilities across the state, we have seen increasing problems within the service system due to provider staff shortages. The lack of staff in HCBS services has meant that people with disabilities have had to stay home from their programming, have had to move into larger consolidated settings, and, in some cases, have been discharged from their provider. Individuals who are discharged from one provider have been unable to find another provider, and providers have not had the capacity to serve individuals newly entering the system.
