HARRISBURG – Sen. Jarrett Coleman (R-16) today convened the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee that he chairs for a public hearing about his bill to remove regulatory barriers for housing and work opportunities for individuals with an intellectual or developmental disability (IDD).
Coleman introduced Senate Bill 657 after learning from families impacted by IDD that they can’t access the types of housing options and programs available to residents of other states. Regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) impose size, location and capacity limitations that exceed the federal qualifications for Medicaid funding. After trying to work with DHS for several months to find a solution, Coleman decided legislation was the only way to get DHS to give serious consideration to reevaluating their discriminatory policies.
Committee members heard from several families, providers and associations that support DHS giving more residential and vocational options to individuals with IDD, including:
- Dr. Amy Lutz, a historian of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and parent of a profoundly autistic adult son, argued, based upon the available research, these “size and density restrictions reflect ideological biases rather than evidence-based practice.”
- William Wright, a father of a an adult son with autism and the president of Love Ran Red Foundation and Duke’s Delites, an Allentown-based dog treat company that employs 12 adults with intellectual disabilities, would like to create a neuro-inclusive community in the Lehigh Valley for 20 individuals with IDD and said current regulations complicate this vision because “they limit choice, discourage innovation, and block access to community-based housing options that reflect people’s real lives and real preferences.”
- Richard Edley, president and chief executive officer of the statewide Rehabilitation & Community Providers Association, said many families “are desperate for solutions and simply cannot understand why possibilities such as an intentional community or a campus setting are seen so negatively” by DHS when there is “not a federal mandate or requirement.”
As the hearing opened, Coleman expressed his disappointment that DHS declined to testify in person “to answer questions and defend its position publicly on such a consequential matter.”
Coleman said, “I recognize it’s not going to be easy to change these regulations. There are bureaucrats in DHS and even some well-intentioned advocacy organizations who fear giving individuals with IDD and their families additional options and more freedom to select the residential and vocational settings of their choice. I’m glad I started this conversation, and now I need DHS to work with me on making real progress, like other states have already done, that expands freedom and opportunity for the IDD community.”
CONTACT: Leo Knepper, 717-787-1349