Budget Cuts Put Safety Net at Risk for Most Vulnerable

Joan Plotkin keeps active with weekly art classes and gym workouts to keep her mind and body strong. She’s proud of the home she shares with Jubilee friends. Her close relationship with sister Marilyn is treasured.

Joan’s direct support professional staff help her maintain her vibrant life as she gets older. After two hip replacements and chemotherapy, Joan needs more help than she used to. Her team truly helps keep Joan steady on her feet.

“Imagine our surprise when we learned that Joan’s dedicated one-on-one service hours were not reapproved,” said Jubilee’s Dominique Clark. She is at the hub of Jubilee’s work to ensure that people we support maintain their Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) approved services.

“We were very concerned,” said Dominique. “Would Joan’s support that she needs for safety have to change? Would her choices and independence be compromised?”

We knew one thing: Jubilee was going to fight for Joan. Joan’s biggest champion, Marilyn, advocated for her too.

“The health, safety, and quality of life of the people who rely on Jubilee are our top priority,” said Executive Director Steve Keener.

Finally, when all seemed lost, we got good news. Joan’s dedicated one-on-one support hours were reinstated.

Now, just one year later, Joan is back at square one fighting to keep her dedicated service hours. Without dedicated one-on-one support staff, Joan is at a greater risk of falling and getting hurt. She might not get to go to the activities that keep her engaged and happy.

Sadly, this issue is much larger than Joan. Looming budget cuts to DDA services will make matters even worse. Proposed budget cuts to DDA total more than $300 million for disability services—including dedicated service hours. Those cuts will hurt 43 percent of the people Jubilee supports. The budget also puts a cap on people’s disability service budgets, which hurts people with complex medical needs.

Together, these two budget items are estimated to slash at least two million dollars from Jubilee’s budget. Providing pro bono disability services at that magnitude is not possible for Jubilee.

Maryland lawmakers are in session now and will decide DDA’s budget. Jubilee is working closely with DDA and elected officials. It’s critical they protect DDA funding for community providers of disability services.

Originally published in Jubilee’s Connections newsletter (Winter 2026 edition). Want to be the first to know Jubilee news published in Connections? Sign up to get your print edition of the Connections newsletter.