To make up for the shortfall for 2024 and 2025, the Board of County Commissioners is providing $17 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, and additional funding is bring provided from the Human Services Levy Council.
The developmental disabilities board said it is also reducing staff, closing four service facilities and an administrative office, moving to full-time agency teleworking and implementing just-in-time payment of services.
Dr. Pamela Combs, superintendent of the Montgomery County Board of Developmental Disabilities, said that a number of factors led to the financial shortfall, including a doubling in demand for the agency’s services since 2009, a continual loss of revenue since 2009, an increase in payments to the State of Ohio to cover the cost of services, an increase in waiver costs, and an increase in the cost of care due to closing of state Developmental Centers.
However, Combs said there are other initiatives to save funds in the future, including increased billing for Medicaid, secure federally-funded housing vouchers, using community-based resources and needs-based waivers, liquidating the Southview facility, and asking the state to grant additional waiver-enhanced Medicaid match funds and cover the recently-increased developmental disability service cost.
The Northview facility at 8114 North Main Street in Dayton will remain open.
“We’ve seen this coming, so it’s no surprise,” Combs said, later adding that the agency is facing the challenges of the funding shortfall and that they believe it will have minimal impact on those who require services.
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