Talking Points
• People with disabilities of all types and degree can and do live successfully in communities of their own choice when individually appropriate services and supports are available to them.
• The policy direction concerning the use of institutions opposed to community based opportunities is a civil rights issue for people with developmental disabilities.
• Government funding allows individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities to live full lives in the community and avoid being limited or defined by their disability.
• Financial resources should be allocated to develop community-based services rather than institutions.
• Empowering those with developmental and intellectual disabilities will enable all citizens to become productive members of the local community.
• An inclusive and collaborative effort between the pubic, disability organizations and governmental and non-governmental bodies will ultimately raise greater public awareness that people with disabilities of all types and degree can and do live successfully in communities of their own choice when individually appropriate services and supports are available to them.
• Currently there are over 31 community-based ICF/MR group homes located around the commonwealth. These residences operate under the same regulations and service requirements as institutions, but have the capability of providing a life in the community instead. Additionally, over 7,000 people with intellectual disabilities use services through the Medicaid MR Waiver which has the same eligibility criteria as an ICF/MR.
• The average cost per person in an institutionalized Training Center is $148,755, while the average cost of a community ICF/MR is $116,665. The cost of services through the Medicaid MR Waiver is even lower, with an average cost of $67, 516 per person per year.
• Changing the policy direction of the use of institutions in the Commonwealth is directly correlated with the state’s ability to reduce the waiver wait lists and strengthen Virginia’s community-based system of support. Currently, the state spends over 250 million per year on state Training Centers.
