Lawmakers are questioning the cost and functionality of a database for the disabled awaiting community based care. As of this month, there are an estimated roughly 3,100 Arkansans on a waiting list to get community based care.
On Tuesday, members of the joint auditing committee challenged officials from Arkansas’s Department of Human Services about a dysfunctional database for individuals receiving services at home through the Developmental Disabilities Services Division. The program, designed by Ohio-based C.H. Mack Inc., cost four million dollars. The state has since decided to spend an additional six million dollars on a fixing the database.
Jim Brader of DHS defended the agency to lawmakers, saying home care services are still needed regardless of the failure of the web program.
"We're asking you to trust us. This is a major overhaul to our system. We're doing this in order to get we think improved services to the people we serve on the DD side as well as the aging side. We've got a waiting list of approximately 3,000 people. They've been waiting for many years and we'd very much like to see them get the services that they deserve," he said.
Republican Rep. Nate Bell from Mena-R, said he wants an in-depth accounting for nearly a third of the 3,100 waiting list that not been located for an assessment of their needs.
"What I hear as I've really tried to work through the numbers today is there are 1623 people that we know where they are, we know who they are, and we know that they are eligible,” he said he would like the committee to see cost projections based on those numbers,” said Bell.
Lawmakers say they want a thorough assessment of the costs of providing for the individuals through the Community First Choice Option, which is a part of the Private Option. They also asked for an accounting of the over 1,100 individuals on the waiting list for home based care who have not been recently located.
