BIDDEFORD — Today is a crucial day to stave of a crisis for services that provide care for one of Maine’s most vulnerable population, according to one legislator.

The Legislature is slated to vote on the state budget at some point today, among the items included is payment for the system that provides care for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

According to Rep.. Patricia Hymanson, D-York, the chair of the Legislature’s Committee on Health and Human Services, it is vitally important to include in the budget funding for a bill that would increase the current reimbursement rate to organizations that provide care for this population.

Last month, her committee unanimously passed LD 967, “An Act to Ensure Access to Community Services for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities or Autism,” sponsored by House majority leader Erin Herbig, D-Belfast. Hymanson noted that the bill has bipartisan support.

The bill would increase the reimbursement rate to organizations like Biddeford-based Community Partners, Inc. and Sanford-based Waban, which provide support services for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities in community settings.

The reimbursement rate to these organizations was set in 2007, but when adjusting for the rate of inflation funding has decreased by about 30 percent since then, even as costs for providing services have increased.

Because of the low reimbursement rate, agencies around the state, especially in York County, are having a hard time hiring and retaining direct support professionals, or DSPs. DSPs are they staff who work directly with clients and help them with meal preparation, hygiene, provide them with medication and take them on outings, among other things.

Collectively, CPI and Waban have 80 vacant full-time positions because of the rate cuts, said CPI CEO Todd Goodwin and Waban Executive Director Neal Meltzer.

LD 967 would provide funding for, among other costs, competitive wages for DSPs . That “has to be funded,” said Hymanson. “Not funding them (DSPs) would create a crisis for a vulnerable population.

“I hope everyone understand the importance of making those homes work,” she said. “There is no plan B.”

She urged Mainers to call their state legislators today and ask them to support funding LD 967.

“If they care about this issue, it’s important to call their legislators,” said Hymanson. “It’s a meaningful phone call.”

— Associate Editor Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324, or dmendros@journaltribune.com.