The State of Georgia for DD in 2005

I just received my copy of "The State of the States in Developmental Disabilities: 2005" and thought I would share with you where Georgia stands today for supporting people with disabilities in the community. I think it is important to know where you stand against other states so that we can more clearly set a direction for improvement in the future. We should only expect Georgia to be a leader in this area, and in order to get there, we should ask over and over, "How can we do better?"

There are 11 states that dedicate at 90% of their total resources to community services in 2004: Arizona, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island and West Virginia. When the state's population is controlled for, Georgia is ranked 51st in the country for using community services.

There are serious problems in retention of direct support professionals throughout the country. I am sure you can relate as a parent to the uncertainty of your loved one's staff person changing. Research has confirmed that this turn over has a deterimental effect on the quality of support. The wages of those persons working in the community with our loved ones is on average $8.68 per hour - compared to the national poverty level of $8.49 per hour. Many states are currently involved in law suits that contend that low wages result in unnecceasry segregation and isolation of people with disabilities and violates Section 504 of the Rehab Act of 1973 as well as the ADA.

Georgia has moved from placing 44th in our state's fiscal effort for community spending in 2002 to ranking 45th in 2004.

In 2004, Georgia had 17,145 persons with MR/DD living with a caregiver over the age of 60. Families continued to share the majority of the responsibility of care for people with disabilities. Nationally, only 11% are supported in a supervised residential setting, while 13% own their own homes, 15% live with a spouse, and 61% live with a family caregiver.