SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 39

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2012

INTRODUCED BY

Timothy Z. Jennings

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES SUPPORTS DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO DEVELOP A THREE- TO FIVE-YEAR PLAN TO MEET THE NEEDS OF PERSONS ON THE DIVISION'S DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES WAIVER WAITING LIST.

     WHEREAS, the home and community-based developmental disabilities waiver has been operational since the 1980s; and

     WHEREAS, the developmental disabilities waiver is currently serving approximately three thousand eight hundred persons with developmental disabilities; and

     WHEREAS, over five thousand children and adults with developmental disabilities are on the division's developmental disabilities waiver central registry waiting for services; and

     WHEREAS, the central registry, commonly known as the "waiting list", is projected to grow to nearly eight thousand persons by 2016 if the current rate of growth continues;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the developmental disabilities supports division of the department of health be requested to develop a three- to five-year plan to meet the needs of persons on the division's waiver central registry; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the plan include:

          A. the number of persons who are on the central registry and not yet receiving waiver services, by age, county of residence and years on the central registry;

          B. an estimate of the costs of providing support and services to persons who are eligible for services but not yet receiving them; and

          C. a target for the number of persons to be moved from the central registry into services over the three- to five-year period and the amount of new state funding needed each year to meet the target; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the division include stakeholder engagement and participation in the development of the plan; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the division report the plan to the interim legislative health and human services committee and the legislative finance committee by November 1, 2012; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the developmental disabilities supports division of the department of health and the secretary of health.

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