Home and Community Based Services

Many people with adult onset-disabilities such as Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, Parkinson’s, leukemia are left without community-based services. If they can no longer live at home, they are forced, by default, to enter a nursing home or other custodial facility where they deplete their economic resources and eventually become Medicaid eligible.

This is not simply the voice of the advocacy community speaking. In recent efforts to reorganize state government, the Executive Office of Health and Human Services identified unserved populations as a concern. “In addition to the potential problem of duplication created by the agency-based silos, past administrative structures have also created gaps in coverage for certain populations. Persons with multiple disabilities and racial and ethnic minorities are frequently underserved. Additionally, there are four major developmental disabilities (mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and autism) as well as a number of other types of developmental disabili­ties that vary in their prevalence. No single state agency has responsibility for coordinating services for persons with developmental disabilities other than mental retardation, which is the most common developmental disability.”  Transforming Long-Term Supports in Massachusetts, EOHHS, December 2003