The way Ohio cares for its developmentally disabled residents is slowly changing. There's a push to move people from institutional care into more community-based settings. A new report highlights just how difficult it will be to make that change.
Roughly 45,000 disabled Ohioans are waiting for special funding to get the services they need, according to a report from the nonprofit Center for Community Solutions.
“Right now, we don’t have enough resources to meet the demand in the developmentally disabled system,” Jon Honek said. He's a co-author of the report and director of public policy and advocacy for the center.
"We could be doing more at the state level to provide some more resources to help our local county boards," he added.
And more is being done, slowly. Ohio’s proposed state budget increases funding by more than $100 million - including money set aside to address that wait list and put 3,000 more people into community-based care such as small group homes or living in their own home with personal caregivers.