November 15, 2021
Like many young adults, I was eager to move out of my childhood home as soon as I could. At age 15, I had dreams of taking NYC by storm and backpacking across Europe as soon as I got out of college. It wasn’t until I realized that living independently is way harder for people with disabilities when you live in a state that has a waitlist for Community Home Care services that can last as long as 15 years. Forty-one states have Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiting lists totalling more than 800,000 people, according to a February 2020 report by the Kaiser Family Foundation that surveyed state waiting lists. Texas, where I currently reside, leads the way with 385,000 people waiting on independence. [...]