I am the mother of a 12-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, and I am also her Employer of Record (EOR) for her Medicaid waiver services.

I am deeply concerned about the proposed elimination of Services Facilitators and the new EVV requirements for live-in attendants.

As a parent and EOR, I already manage my daughter’s care, safety, school, appointments, advocacy, attendants, schedules, payroll, Special Olympics, and Medicaid requirements. Services Facilitators provide an important human connection and guidance in an extremely complicated system. Removing them will place an even greater burden on families who are already doing everything they can to care for their loved ones.

I also understand the importance of accountability and preventing fraud, and I support those goals. However, EVV should not create barriers to legitimate care. For live-in attendants, technology errors, GPS problems, connectivity issues, or missed clock-ins should not result in lost wages or service interruptions when the care was actually provided.

Behind every waiver is a real person and a real family. My daughter is not a case number. She is a child who deserves the opportunity to be safe, included, independent, and fully involved in her community.

I respectfully ask DMAS to preserve meaningful support for families, maintain access to Services Facilitators or an equivalent individualized support system, and ensure that EVV errors can be corrected without jeopardizing caregivers' pay or the continuity of services.

Please listen to the families who depend on these services. We need a system that supports us, not one that makes caring for our children even harder.

Thank you for considering my comments.

Elizabeth Noriega
Mother & EOR