U.S. system for the disabled nearing collapse: Politico

NEW YORK, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Private agencies that provide services for the intellectually and developmentally disabled have long warned that, without fresh state and federal funding, they would be unable to provide housing and staff support to the growing number of Americans who need care, reported Politico last week.

"Over the last 12 months, the COVID-19 pandemic's lingering effects and once-in-a-generation inflation have turned dire predictions into sobering truths, and agency directors, who for years hobbled along on shoestring budgets, have done in 2022 what not long ago would have been unthinkable: closed their doors," said the report.

"These are people who have been with us for years; we love them," said Todd Goodwin, CEO at the John F. Murphy Homes in Maine, who has closed four group homes over the past 18 months. "They are losing their homes through no fault of their own. We have just run out of options."

Two decades after the Supreme Court ruled states must provide care for the disabled in the least restrictive setting possible, home- and community-based service providers are floundering, said the report.

"Many states, flush with cash thanks to a juiced economy and federal stimulus, may need to act following years of inadequate funding that left an already fragile system on the verge of collapse," it added.