To the Editor:

Across the communities represented by The Arc Jefferson – St. Lawrence, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities rely on an array of support programs to live, work and thrive. Our agency supports more than 1,000 local people with disabilities on the path to achieve their goals and Medicaid funding is critical to maintain these services.

Nationally, 69 percent of the community providers that deliver these services are turning away new referrals while 39 percent are discontinuing existing services because they lack the funding needed to recruit and retain qualified workers. This puts access to services in jeopardy at a time when nearly 512,000 disabled Americans are languishing on their states’ waiting lists. The people we support and their families are counting on providers such as The Arc Jefferson – St. Lawrence to be there to provide high quality, meaningful programs that enrich their lives. Unfortunately, another crisis is looming now.

Community-based services are almost exclusively funded by Medicaid, and in Congress, the House recently approved a budget resolution directing the committee that oversees Medicaid to slash $880 billion in spending. Such a drastic cut will all but dismantle the federal Medicaid program, leaving hundreds of thousands more Americans without the services they need.

As a provider of services for people with disabilities, I know firsthand that Jefferson and St. Lawrence Counties are better when we are inclusive. We are calling on support from Senators Gillibrand and Schumer and Representatives Tenney and Stefanik to agree that our community is stronger when it includes people with disabilities. We are asking them to reject any proposals to cut funding for the federal Medicaid program.

Lynn M. Pietroski

Chief Executive Director

The Arc Jefferson – St. Lawrence