Jun 7, 2022, Clayton News Daily: How Georgia plans to spend $600 million in federal funds to support people with disabilities and the elderly https://www.news-daily.com/news/how-georgia-plans-to-spend-600-million-in-federal-funds-to-support-people-with-disabilities/article_0c305b31-fc8e-5191-b0ae-de24834cb475.html
Georgia will now have until 2025 to spend almost $600 million in federal pandemic relief the state was awarded for services that help people with disabilities and the elderly live at home instead of in institutions.
Funds for home- and community-based services from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) President Joe Biden signed into law in March of last year initially were to be spent by 2024. States will now have until 2025 to spend the money....
“Everyone deserves the dignity to live in their own homes and communities,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said last week.
The vast majority of the $586 million in federal funds awarded to Georgia will be split between two initiatives.
The state will use almost half of the funds — $286 million — to increase pay for home health and direct support workers. In some cases, it will increase reimbursement rates, and in others it will provide temporary pay increases....
The third largest line item — $54 million — will provide in-home behavioral aides for youth with autism. The state says this will help reduce the number of young people with autism admitted to psychiatric treatment facilities....
In 2020, more than 7,000 Georgians with intellectual or developmental disabilities were waiting for Medicaid waivers that would allow them to get home- or community-based services, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
