As a parent of a child who depends on these critical services, I cannot overstate how important it is to have the ability to choose our own service facilitator.

This system is incredibly complex and often overwhelming for families to navigate. I have personally benefited from the ability to choose and even transfer service providers to find someone who truly understands our family and our needs. Our current service facilitator knows us, knows our child, and has been absolutely instrumental in helping us navigate this complicated system and access the resources and support our child needs.

I strongly believe that moving to a broker model would be a step in the wrong direction. Rather than improving the experience for families, I fear it would make an already difficult system even more impersonal, removing the relationships, trust, and individualized support that make service facilitation so valuable.

Families like ours already have so little control over a system that plays such a significant role in our children’s lives. The ability to choose who helps us navigate that system is one of the few areas where we actually have a voice and a sense of agency. Taking that choice away would be incredibly discouraging.

These aren’t just administrative services or boxes to check. They directly impact the quality of life, independence, and well-being of individuals with disabilities and the families who care for them.

I urge you to preserve our right to choose our own service facilitators. Please don’t make an already complicated system less personal and take away one of the few meaningful choices families have in advocating for their loved ones.