People on the Go Deputy Director Tracy Wright speaks against proposed budget cuts to developmental disabilities services at a February rally outside the State House, as Executive Director Mat Rice looks on. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters)
Across Maryland, thousands of families are watching the state budget debate with growing anxiety — and many are traveling to Annapolis to testify and share deeply personal stories. For them, this is not abstract policy. It is about whether their son has safe overnight support, whether their daughter’s complex medical needs are monitored, and whether they can go to work knowing their loved one is safe.
For the second consecutive year, the Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) faces deep reductions in funding. Gov. Wes Moore’s proposed fiscal 2027 budget would cut more than $150 million in general funds from direct services. With the loss of federal matching dollars, the total impact reaches $300 million.
Meanwhile, community providers are under enormous strain. A recent survey of 60 developmental disability community providers found they are owed more than $35 million in uncompensated care — services already delivered to people whose health and safety depend on them. Providers have absorbed these costs to keep people stable. That is not sustainable.
These realities were front and center during recent hearings in Annapolis, including testimony on Ralph’s Act, the Maryland Protecting People With Disabilities Act, and the Developmental Disabilities Administration budget hearings in the House and Senate. Families and people with developmental disabilities filled hearing rooms and overflow spaces to share deeply personal stories about lost Medicaid coverage, service disruptions, and the uncertainty they are facing as the state debates additional reductions.
Public testimony during these hearings made it clear that the Developmental Disabilities Administration has already been reducing access to critically needed services while families face bureaucratic barriers that make those services difficult, and sometimes impossible, to obtain.
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The volume of testimony and the urgency in those stories reflect a community that is increasingly worried about the stability of the system meant to support them. Families are scared, and frustration with the dysfunction at DDA and Maryland Medicaid is palpable.
Since January 2024, people have encountered months-long delays, lack of responsiveness and a system that too often forces them to fight simply to maintain the supports they’ve been approved to receive. Many described spending countless hours, days, weeks and months navigating paperwork, waiting for responses, and trying to resolve issues that should not require a prolonged battle.
Equally troubling are inconsistencies in how these changes are described publicly. A DDA manual updated as recently as Feb. 3 states a policy for dedicated one-to-one staffing, while recent public statements by DDA leaders contradict their own manual. People with disabilities, families and providers deserve transparency. When guidance documents and sworn testimony diverge, trust erodes.
The implications extend beyond fiscal policy. Significant reductions to community-based services can violate the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision. When funding cuts create a serious risk of institutionalization or segregation, they cross a legal line. Public entities must take reasonable steps to avoid placing individuals at such risk, and alternatives must be real and accessible — not theoretical.
If individuals with the highest needs lose access to dedicated staffing and are forced into more restrictive settings, that is not simply a policy shift. It is a civil rights failure.
Behind every number is a real story: A person in Western Maryland who fought for overnight medical support, a working mother in Prince George’s County who depends on day services for her child to maintain employment, aging parents in Baltimore County wondering what will happen when they can no longer provide care.
In recent years, Maryland invested in stabilizing this fragile system, adjusting DDA rates so providers could raise wages for direct-support professionals and reduce turnover. Two consecutive years of reductions would seriously impact that progress.
At the same time people are navigating these uncertainties, they are also confronting a service system that too often feels unstable and unpredictable. When communication breaks down and policies change without clarity, families and people with disabilities are left to shoulder the consequences.
Maryland’s fiscal challenges are real. But responsible budgeting requires accurate projections, transparent testimony and a full accounting of cumulative impacts.
This is not unchecked growth. It is a system that has already absorbed reductions, is carrying tens of millions in unpaid care, and is now being asked to cut deeper in ways that will disproportionately affect those with the most significant disabilities.
What families are asking for most right now is simple: A system they can trust. Until the Developmental Disabilities Administration addresses the growing concerns about funding, transparency, responsiveness and reliability, that trust will remain fragile.
The decisions made this legislative session will determine whether Maryland protects its most vulnerable residents — or risks pushing them toward more restrictive, more costly, and potentially unlawful outcomes.
Originally published at Marylandmatters.Org