House Passes Bill Averting Shutdown and Extending Money Follows the Person Program

With House leadership and the White House striking a deal regarding a short-term extension for the 2020 fiscal budget, which expires at the end of September, the House passed legislation averting a federal shutdown through December 11. The short-term funding bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), is now on its way to the Senate, where it is expected to pass easily and then head to President Trump for his signature.

ANCOR is relieved that the CR includes a short-term extension of the Money Follows the Person (MFP) program, which helps individuals voluntarily move out of institutional settings into community supports. The program, structured as a pilot which originally expired in 2016, has been maintained over the past few years by short-term extensions. While these extensions have allowed the program to support over 91,000 individuals since its inception, the fiscal uncertainty caused by the short-term nature of the extensions led 10 states to withdraw from the program since the beginning of last year. These states are Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Tennessee and Virginia.

While ANCOR has long advocated for a permanent MFP renewal, we are glad that the current extension means that 33 states can continue supporting individuals with disabilities enrolled in MFP. With the pandemic demonstrating the importance community supports hold for the well-being of individuals, MFP is an important program to support this year.