Florida News Release:

On behalf of The Sunrise Group, those we serve and their families from Homestead to Panama City, we extend our deepest gratitude to Florida Senate President Andy Gardiner and Speaker of the House Steve Crisafulli. Due to their personal commitment to include Floridians of all abilities, $9,687,008 for critical services were allocated from recurring General Revenue. This means that $25 million will be used to help ensure that people with intellectual and physical disabilities may access community based services in the most person-centered and cost-effective manner possible. This is great news for Florida’s taxpayers as well as families and loved ones of people with disabilities!

In addition to President Gardiner and Speaker Crisafulli, Appropriations Committee Chairs Senator Tom Lee and Representative Richard Corcoran worked diligently throughout the Conference process to find a way to provide supplemental funding for iBudget rates. This included the Agency for Persons with Disabilities’ (APD) Adult Day Training at a rate of 1:3 for minimum wage compliance as well as a 3% across-the-board increase for community based adult day services. This is a critical service that allows many families to continue working while a relative or loved one with intellectual challenges receives pre-vocational training during the day. Personal Support Services and Residential Habilitation also received a 3% increase. Each of these services allow people with disabilities to live valued lives in local communities. The support enables those served to live as independently as possible based upon their varying levels of individual ability.

Recognizing that every Floridian deserves the right to age respectfully in place, Gardiner, Crisafulli, Lee and Corcoran took a fiscally responsible stance to protect the state’s most vulnerable, people with intellectual disabilities. The Sunrise Group is grateful that these four Florida legislators are providing strong leadership and protecting Floridians of all abilities in Tallahassee!

Headquartered in Miami, Florida, The Sunrise Group is a network of 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporations serving people with a wide variety of intellectual and physical disabilities. The organizations now provide services to individuals in seven states, including Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Tennessee, and Virginia. The organizations supported by the Sunrise Group are nationally recognized for their innovative and individualized approaches designed to support people in leading more fulfilling lives by achieving higher levels of independence, self-determination and personal responsibility. Over its long history, the organizations of the Sunrise Group have established an unsurpassed reputation for high caliber, cost effective services.

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