Harrisburg, PA – Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh recently published an opinion piece highlighting the continued investments for intellectual disability and autism (ID/A) services and the ID/A workforce in Governor Josh Shapiro’s 2025-26 proposed budget. This year’s proposed investments are part of a multi-year growth strategy to expand access to home and community-based services and effectively end the emergency waiting list for adults.
The Governor’s proposed budget builds on momentum from the $354.8 million in federal and state funding secured in the 2024-25 budget by annualizing rate increases and expanding waiver enrollment capacity. In less than one year, this investment reduced the adult emergency waiting list for services by nearly 20 percent and decreased the direct support professional (DSP) vacancy rate to 14 percent, the lowest it has been since 2015. The continued investments proposed in this year’s budget will support progress made and allow even more Pennsylvanians to access the supports they deserve.
Read about these historic investments in Sec. Arkoosh’s full op-ed below:
PennLive: Reducing Waiting Lists and Getting More Pennsylvanians the Care they Need
By: Dr. Val Arkoosh, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary
Every Pennsylvanian deserves the freedom to chart their own course. People with intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/A) are no exception, but often, they are overlooked, forgotten, or ignored by society. These Pennsylvanians deserve access to the right services at the right time so they can live healthy, independent lives. Historically, many Pennsylvanians with ID/A have been forced to wait years to access the home and community-based services that enable them to be part of their communities and live among their family, friends, and peers. That is changing. While there is still more work to do, Pennsylvania has moved the needle in the right direction, making critical investments and fighting for a better future for the ID/A community.
In less than one year since Governor Josh Shapiro announced a new vision for ID/A services in Pennsylvania, the Department of Human Services has reduced the adult emergency waiting list for services by just under 20 percent. The emergency waiting list had been steadily growing for years, and this quick shift is remarkable. During the Shapiro Administration, more than 3,000 additional individuals have been enrolled in services, and that number will continue to rise. For the first time ever, more than 40,000 individuals are receiving ID/A services through the Department of Human Services.
While the Administration has made significant investments to serve more people, providers are working on recruitment and retention. A recent workforce survey shows that the direct support professional (DSP) vacancy rate has decreased to 14 percent, the lowest it has been since 2015. This is a direct result of strategic investments aimed at recruiting and retaining a strong workforce.
As part of a multi-year growth strategy, the 2024-25 bipartisan budget kicked off this work with historic new investments in Pennsylvanians with ID/A and the DSPs who care for them by securing $354.8 million in federal and state funding to provide more resources for home and community-based service providers. The funding included $280 million to help raise wages for DSPs, ensuring better retention and quality of care, and $74.8 million to begin the process of eliminating that years-long emergency waiting list for services. This investment in provider rates supported recruitment, retention, and wages for DSPs who make inclusive, enriching lives possible for people with intellectual disabilities and autism.
But this is just the beginning. Governor Shapiro’s 2025-26 budget proposal continues this momentum by sustaining the enhanced funding for ID/A investments and builds on the commitment to get stuff done for Pennsylvanians and the workforce with additional proposals to invest in vital sectors like health care, early childhood education, behavioral health, and much more.
These are commonsense proposals that will help many Pennsylvanians. We must ensure that rural Pennsylvanians can access hospital care in their communities. Direct care workers who care for our parents and grandparents should be paid a living wage and get health care and time off when they are sick. We must support early childhood educators who dedicate their careers to caring for our children so that childcare is affordable and accessible for all Pennsylvanian families that need it. And we must invest in our counties so they can continue providing high-quality behavioral health care in our communities.
As we have seen over the last year, when we invest wisely in services for those who need them, and the workforce that supports them, we create a better Commonwealth for all of us. Let’s keep that progress going and continue to get stuff done for our fellow Pennsylvanians.