Session Ended - What Happened With HB 5001?

ELLINGTON-EAST WINDSOR-VERNON, CT — If you remember a few months back, Rep. Kevin Brown and I met with families from our districts and discussed HB 5001. Now that the session is over, I wanted to give you an update on this bill.

The bill passed the House on May 30 and passed on consent in the Senate on June 7. It is now known as Public Act No. 23-137. It is a comprehensive multi-year measure that expands vital services to these vulnerable individuals so that their most basic needs are properly met. This new bill complements the children's mental health legislation that became law last year.

Key provisions in this wide-ranging bill reflect strong bipartisan efforts, including the reduction of waitlists and updating a decades-old approach to serving the intellectual or developmental disability (IDD) community.

This bill also establishes a solid framework to address:

• housing needs
• educational and transitional services
• transportation
• day programming
• career and job coaching
• life skills training
• behavioral services
• assistive technology

While this public act is 92 pages long, here are some highlights:

HB 5001 invested in the autism waiver administered by the Department of Social Services and the waitlist for adults with IDD (other than autism) who need services from the Department of Developmental Services. The bill specifically enhances services and programs for individuals with IDD by:

1. Investing more dollars in DSS and DDS to reduce waitlists

i. $44M for new staff & caseload growth;

ii. $24.8M for K-12 age-outs and high school graduates;

iii. $19.2M for money follows the person transitions

2. Revamping transitional services from K-12

3. Establishing a statewide emergency alert system for missing persons with IDD

4. Offering grants to local municipalities to implement local voluntary registration systems to better police interaction

5. Establishing a Human Services Career Pipeline to address staff shortages

6. Requiring data collection and annual reporting between state agencies

7. Analyzing the use of IQ in program eligibility and recommending best practices and policies

8. Creating tax incentives for businesses that employ persons with IDD

9. Implementing ABLE bank accounts

10. Establishing IDD Awareness and Advocacy Day, and

11. Requiring OPM to establish 2 new positions for statewide coordination of services for IDD (one specific to autism spectrum disorder and one for all other IDD)

This bill requires annual reporting, and we hope to now see the waitlist decreasing each year for these populations due to systemic changes and more accountability.

To read the full Public Act, click here.

It is my goal to continue working on finding solutions that offer relief and peace for members of the intellectual or developmental disability community and to guardians and family caregivers.

Rep. Jaime Foster represents the 57th District in the General Assembly, including Ellington, East Windsor and part of Vernon.