Please Protect Services Facilitation and Family Choice

I am asking you to please listen to the families who depend on Virginia’s Medicaid waiver services and reconsider the proposed elimination of Services Facilitation in favor of a Support Broker model.

As a parent of a child with significant disabilities and complex needs, I believe families should have the right to choose the person or organization that provides their Services Facilitation. These individuals are not simply processing paperwork. They help families navigate Medicaid requirements, understand our options, coordinate services, advocate for our children, and make sure the services our children are entitled to are actually accessible.

For families raising children who cannot speak or advocate for themselves, having someone who knows our child, knows our circumstances, and understands our family is extremely important. Our Services Facilitators become part of our support system. They treat us like people—not just another Medicaid case number, authorization, or name on a list.

The relationships and trust that families have built with their current Services Facilitators matter. Replacing that relationship with a broker assigned through an agency could take away an important part of the individualized support families depend on.

I do not want a Support Broker model that takes away my ability to choose who advocates for and assists my family. I want to retain the right to choose my Services Facilitator and the provider who understands my child and our needs.

Please do not make this decision without listening to the families who will be directly affected. Our children deserve individualized care, meaningful advocacy, continuity, and a voice—and Services Facilitators help provide exactly that.

Please protect family choice and preserve Services Facilitation in Virginia Medicaid waiver services.