On March 30, 2023 the Adult Family Home Council hosted a Lobby Day in Olympia. Approximately 150 adult family home operators and staff came to the Capitol to meet with lawmakers.
Much of the day was focused on the legislature’s primary task of developing a state budget. The day was well timed as the Senate and House of Representatives had both recently released draft budget. Both the Seante and House versions of the budget have included $339,000,000 dollars for increases to Medicaid rates as negotiated for by the Council. This will equate to the average daily rate increasing by 29% or $35 per day.
The House version of the budget also included funding for a health care navigator to assist AFH workers and owners to access health care plans through the Washington Health Benefits Exchange. Additionally, the house budget included funding for a language access support pilot program. This program will allow our Adult Family Home Training Network to access interpreter services to support students through the basic training programs. Providers were encouraged to tell their lawmakers to support the House version of the budget.
We were delighted to have Amber Leaders, Senior Policy staff to the Governor, Senator Mark Mullet, and Representatives Kelly Chambers and Andrew Barkis stop by our lobby day and address the providers gathered. All expressed gratitude and recognized the importance of the work you do in the community.
Providers who took part in legislative meetings reported positive feedback from their lawmakers and feeling empowered by the experience. Overall the day was a success. Lawmakers learned more about adult family home issues and hopefully our efforts will result in a positive final state budget that supports the critical work adult family homes do across our state.
