Arizona Disability Advocates, Caregivers, and Families Rally to fight for Gap Funding in Services

In Arizona, the Division of Developmental Disabilities(DDD), provides services for the disabled community. Arizona Long Term Care System(ALTCS) is what pays for the services through Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System(AHCCCS), Arizona's Medicaid. The Division of Developmental Disabilities empowers individuals with developmental disabilities to lead self-directed, healthy and meaningful lives. DDD supports eligible individuals diagnosed with one of the following developmental disabilities: Autism; Cerebral palsy; Epilepsy; Cognitive / Intellectual Disability; Down Syndrome; or Are under the age of six and at risk of having a Developmental Disability DDD serves more than 50,000 people with developmental disabilities and their families throughout Arizona each year. Right now there is a funding issue and DDD will run out of money by the beginning of May and won't be able to pay therapist, caregivers or providers for 2 months until the end of the fiscal year. That will be devastating to the children and adults that rely on these services and programs through DDD. For the last 3-4 weeks, advocates, caregivers and families have been going to the Arizona state Capitol in Phoenix, AZ to show the state legislators that they will not stop until the funding is promised. They want to share their stories to show a face to the programs. If these programs and services stop, some children could die, these are life saving medicine and therapies. I'm a documentary filmmaker in Arizona, filming families of autistic children who use DDD services and will regress without them. My son is 13 and has been in DDD for 10 years now. DDD paid for his AAC Device, his communication device. Without it he would not be able to communicate with us so well, it's his voice. I decided, more people needed to hear what is going on in Arizona and we nee to get these stories out. I filmed on February 19th, 2025 and February 26th, 2025. On February 26th, there was a rally to tell both, Republicans and Democrats that they need to get together and figure out the budget. We don't want our kids to be political pawns. Companies are already starting to send out letters to parents about having to close down in May if the funding doesn't get fixed. That is more stress on families that already have more then the average families. For more info on what you can do in Arizona: Call To Action: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J...