Options In Community Living

09/10/2026

"The federal government is switching sides in a closely watched disability rights case and is now seeking to do away with rules requiring that people with disabilities be served in the community.

The U.S. Department of Justice alongside Texas, Alaska, Florida, Louisiana and Montana want to drop all references to the phrase “most integrated setting” in Department of Health and Human Services’ regulations related to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Doing so would go back on decades of precedent, disability advocates say.
..

“Switching sides on this type of fundamental disability rights issue is pretty unprecedented,” she said. “The integration mandate has been one of the most important rights that people with disabilities have. It has enabled people with disabilities to live, work and receive services in their own homes and communities and to have the same kinds of lives as people without disabilities.”"

This is unacceptable. Make your voice heard: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

The federal government is switching sides in a closely watched disability rights case and is now seeking to do away with rules requiring that people with disabilities be served in the community.

09/02/2026

Another quick advocacy opportunity to help protect the rights of people with disabilities to live in the community. Thank you!

Tell Your Governor to Sign the Commitment and Protect the Disability Community

08/11/2026

We are so grateful for our amazing employees and the dedication, compassion, and care you bring to your work every day. Your commitment to supporting people with disabilities in their homes and communities makes a meaningful difference. Your kindness, hard work, and willingness to go the extra mile do not go unnoticed! Thank you for being such an important part of Options. We appreciate all that you do!

🎉 Happy August Work Anniversaries! 🎉

- Abdinur Alas: 9 years!
- Liz Becker: 12 years!
- Timeca Echols: 2 years!
- Momodou Gibba: 1 year!
- Adnan Hasan: 5 years!
- Miranda Huddleston: 4 years!
- Kendall: 1 year+!
- Sam Jensen: 2 years!
- Shirley Jonas: 28 years!
- Banlieman: 1 year!
- Felix Edoe Mensah: 8 years!
- Clinton Richardson: 5 years!
- Levi: 3 years!
- Kari Steindorf: 2 years!
- Helen Wright: 20 years!

08/07/2026

Please take a moment to advocate!

The bipartisan Recognizing the Role of Direct Support Professionals Act urges the Office of Management and Budget to establish a Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) for direct support professionals (DSPs).

07/29/2026

Reminder that this is today! Please help support us!

50% of each purchase is donated to Options!

Join us on the 29th for a fundraiser night at Forage Kitchen in Monona!

07/24/2026

07/17/2026

Here is an informative and distressing timeline of what has been happening (and the future) over the last year since the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" was signed by President Trump, which will cut $1 trillion to Medicaid over the next 10 years.

"More than 86 percent of optional Medicaid spending goes to disabled people and older adults. When you cut Medicaid by a trillion dollars and tell states to find the savings, there’s no version of that math that spares us. We are the optional spending. The home care, personal aides, equipment, and therapies all sit in the category states are allowed to cut first.

And they always cut it first. The last time federal Medicaid funding dropped, between 2010 and 2012, every single state cut home and community-based services to some degree, and the waiting lists grew. We have the receipts on what happens, because it already happened.

Home and community-based services, HCBS, is the thing that keeps me out of an institution. It’s the aides and support that let me live in my home instead of a facility, work, have a life, and be the person I want to be. It’s also, in the cold language of Medicaid, optional. "
..

"Here’s the warning that should worry everyone reading this who doesn’t have a disability yet. Most of you will. Disability is the one minority group anyone can join at any moment, on any ordinary afternoon, in a car, diagnosis or a fall. The system they’re building to manage us is the system that’ll be waiting for you."

One year of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and the machine it turned on

07/17/2026

Join us on the 29th for a fundraiser night at Forage Kitchen in Monona!

07/16/2026

This month, we're celebrating the dedicated individuals who have chosen to make a difference in the lives of people we support every single day. The impact you make extends far beyond your job description—you build relationships, foster independence, and bring kindness into the lives of those we support. Happy Work Anniversary and thank you for everything you do!

Please join us in congratulating our July anniversary staff members! 👏🎉

- Eddie Adouna: 7 years!
- Farimang Busso: 1 year!
- Momodou Ceesay: 6 years!
- Eugene: 3 years!
- Matarr Faal: 3 years!
- Monica Flores: 19 years!
- Yirga Gagebo: 10 years!
- Rachel Hahn: 16 years!
- Sheena Hernandez: 5 years!
- Abram Herrero: 12 years!
- Fatou Jawo: 16 years!
- Yolanda Jones: 3 years!
- Tonya Maier: 6 years!
- Richard Raven: 3 years!
- Kim Rogge: 34 years!
- Eileen S: 3 years!
- Shynesha Stewart: 2 years!
- Taylor Edge: 1 year!
- Hailey Voelker: 2 years!
- Hafida Zourib: 7 years!

07/15/2026

"36 years ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law, promising that individuals with disabilities have the right to access community-based supports. But community living is only possible if we continue to fight for these rights. Will you join us this July to keep up the pressure on Congress to protect the community-based services that make it possible for people with disabilities to live and thrive in our communities?

Essential community-based services are being attacked. The Medicaid cuts passed through the budget reconciliation bill last year are underway, and the administration continues to devalue community-based services, the role of family caregivers, and the very disability rights the ADA protects. With discussions of a new reconciliation bill underway in Congress, critical supports for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities could be at risk." --
-ANCOR American Network of Community Options and Resources

Please consider using this advocacy tool to tell your members of Congress to protect home and community-based services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) by rejecting further cuts or harmful changes to Medicaid.

Medicaid is a lifeline for people with I/DD. After suffering the largest cut in funding since its creation with the passage of the budget reconciliation law last year, the future of critical home and community-based services (HCBS) continues to be under threat.