RELATING TO BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE, DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES AND, HOSPITALS -- QUALITY SELF-DIRECTED SUPPORTS ACT OF 2026
Impact
The proposed law incorporates collective bargaining rights into the self-directed supports program, which is intended to improve service access, education and training options, and recruitment and retention of direct support professionals. While the act does not undermine the authority of state officials to oversee the program, it reaffirms the rights of participants and their representatives to select, direct, and terminate their own care professionals. By establishing wage ranges for these professionals, the bill not only seeks to elevate pay standards but also ensures accountability and quality in the care provided.
Summary
Bill S2882, known as the Quality Self-Directed Supports Act of 2026, aims to address the critical gap between the demand for personal care services for developmentally disabled adults and the supply of trained workers. The legislation emphasizes the importance of investing in self-directed personal care jobs, which includes raising wages and offering better benefits for direct support professionals. This approach is designed to empower individuals with developmental disabilities to self-direct their care, enhancing their ability to access necessary services in alignment with their preferences and needs.
Contention
Opponents may argue that the inclusion of collective bargaining rights could complicate the existing structure of service provision and introduce potential disputes about wages and employment conditions. Conversely, proponents assert that empowering direct support professionals through collective bargaining is essential for creating a stable workforce capable of meeting the diverse needs of individuals with disabilities. Overall, the bill’s dual focus on participant rights and professional standards marks a significant shift in how personal care services are delivered and regulated in Rhode Island.
Establishes a core state behavioral health crisis services system, to be administered by the director of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals.
Establishes a core state behavioral health crisis services system, to be administered by the director of the department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals.
Ensures that more developmentally disabled adults can self-direct the care they need and want, by incorporating collective bargaining rights into the self-directed supports program.
Expands the deinstitutionalization subsidy aid program in the department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals to include adoptive parent(s) or siblings(s).
Expands the DCYF powers by overseeing and administer comprehensive behavioral health services for children with serious emotional disturbances and children with developmental or functional disabilities.
Expands the DCYF powers by overseeing and administer comprehensive behavioral health services for children with serious emotional disturbances and children with developmental or functional disabilities.
Provides for a two-point three percent (2.3%) increase of provider reimbursement rates for intellectual and developmental disabilities commencing October 1, 2025.
Amends Rhode Island’s existing healthcare services funding plan act by adding an account relating to a new psychiatry resource network to fund Rhode Island’s present PediPRN and MomsPRN.