Center for Disabilities Studies

Delaware advocates and caregivers for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities have expressed concern that the budget for Fiscal Year 2020 only includes a fraction of the money they say is needed to raise wages for direct support professionals (DSPs). The passage last year of the Michael McNesby Act called for the state to increase its reimbursement of caregiving services but did not mandate it. With the small increase currently in the budget, DSP hourly wages will be about $10.35. If the McNesby Act was fully implemented, that would rise to $14.11.

Some in the disability community have warned that the Trump administration’s new “conscience rule,” which enables medical staff and health care entities to refuse service to individuals they object to on moral or religious grounds, could adversely affect people with disabilities. Their chief concern is that the rule covers not only physicians, nurses and pharmacists but also positions such as home health care providers and ambulance drivers, who provide services that many individuals need to survive.

Former vice president and Delaware senator Joe Biden, a frontrunner in the race to become the Democratic nominee for president in the 2020 election, released an education plan geared toward increasing the number of health care professionals in schools, helping educators retire student debt and better serving schools with high populations of students with disabilities and students from low-income backgrounds. Biden also stated his support for universal Pre-K for children ages three and four.

Dozens of disability rights activists with the organization ADAPT were arrested near Capitol Hill while advocating for expanded access to community-based services. Other protestors occupied the offices of 19 U.S. representatives to draw attention to the Disability Integration Act, which would require insurance companies and state agencies to cover community-based care. ADAPT members said multiple lawmakers agreed to co-sponsor the DIA as a result of their demonstrations.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed legislation last week to outlaw abortions because of a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. As with a similar bill the House passed last term, this legislation faces a veto by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. The vote comes amid a wave of abortion restrictions advancing in more conservative states.