ACTION ALERT: FEEDBACK NEEDED — HELP ENSURE CMS HEARS THE SDS COMMUNITY’S PERSPECTIVE ON STAFFING AND PROVIDER CAPACITY
We are collecting critical data from the Self-Directed Services (SDS) community to help inform our response to the DDA’s response to CMS’s Request for Additional Information (RAI). CMS has raised questions about provider capacity, and we need to ensure the real-world experiences of participants and their support teams are represented—not just the data provided by the DDA.
We have two surveys collecting information about staffing, provider capacity, and the realities of accessing services through self-direction. Your feedback is essential to providing CMS and policymakers with a more complete picture of what is happening on the ground.
Larger Data Survey: Focuses on the issues and comments in DDA’s response to CMS, including workforce access and service impacts.
The link to this survey can be found here https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ddaprovidercapacity
Family as Staff Survey: A much shorter survey focused specifically on the Family as Staff hourly caps, replacement staffing, and whether qualified workers are actually available to replace Family as Staff. The link to this survey can be found here https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RWRGBFQ
Please complete the surveys:
If the participant uses Family as Staff: Please complete both surveys.
If the participant does not use Family as Staff: Please complete the Larger Data Survey only.
Every response matters. The more responses we receive, the stronger our data will be when we present the community’s experience to CMS and policymakers.
Please share with other Maryland DDA participants and families!
___
Show What These Cuts Really Cost
Continue to complete our easy-to-use Estimator to show how both Cut #1 (7/1/25) and Cut #2 (TBD) impact SDS participants and their families.
We encourage each SDS participant (or their family member/other support) to complete our new SDS Cuts Estimator. Please fill it out only once or the data will be skewed. It should take less than ten minutes to do.
The instructions on the Estimator are clear, with these helpful hints:
· You can fill out one or both sections (Cut #1 and/or Cut #2).
· You must indicate any Family as Staff in Cut #2 to adjust for the potential 60/40 cap.
· For each support staff listed, indicate if they provide Personal Supports, Personal Supports-Enhanced, or Community Development Services (these are the options under “Service”).
After you’ve filled out all the information, the Estimator will indicate how many hours of support staff and how much support staff pay your participant has lost/will lose due to the DDA cuts.
The final step is to anonymously add your results to the statewide tally so we can show the cumulative impact of these changes on Maryland’s SDS population.
Once you’ve completed the statewide tally, it’s time to contact your legislators! You can share the data on the impact of the wage cuts with them. Please do so using our sample email below.
Then, check out our link to the wage cut map that uses the data from the estimator: Maryland DDA Wage Cut Map — Concerned Citizens of Self-Direction Maryland
If you have other suggestions or questions, please send us an email at [email protected]. We appreciate your support, great or small, to help move the community forward. We are better, together!