ANCOR Reaches out to ACL on Funding DSP Vaccinations

In response to the Administration for Community Living’s (ACL) announcement that it had partnered with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to offer $100 million in grants to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines for people with disabilities, ANCOR sent ACL a letter requesting that the agency allow some of those funds to be used to vaccinate Direct Support Professionals.

As written in the letter: “The well-being of DSPs cannot be separated from the well-being of the people they support because of the intimate nature of some of the tasks they perform. As such, vaccinating DSPs against COVID-19 helps maintain the well-being of people with disabilities. The importance of this cannot be understated given that people with disabilities are more likely to die than the general population if they contract COVID-19. Finally, vaccinating DSPs will help remedy broader inequities surrounding vaccine access, given that a large share of the DSP workforce is drawn from communities of color who have struggled to access COVID-19 vaccinations. Funding vaccination drives targeted at DSPs will be a strategic investment as this nation seeks to combat new surges of COVID-19.”

We will keep our members informed of ACL’s response and of any opportunities for additional advocacy on this topic.