NADD is a national association committed to supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and co-occurring mental health needs. Our diverse membership includes individuals with lived experience, family members, clinicians, researchers, and those providing services and supports – all united in our mission to improve understanding, services, and quality of life for this population. Together, we raise our voices with urgency, collective determination and unified resolve.

The federal budget proposals currently under consideration threaten deep and irreversible harm to the people and systems we serve. These proposals include:

• Over $700 billion in cuts to Medicaid, the foundation of community-based supports for individuals with disabilities and complex behavioral health needs;
• Nearly $300 billion in reductions to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), putting direct support professionals and the people they support at risk of food insecurity; and
• Proposed reductions to the Administration for Community Living (ACL), including efforts to eliminate or significantly reduce funding for State Councils on Developmental Disabilities (DD Councils) and other vital programs.

The impact of these cuts would be devastating and widespread:

• People with intellectual/developmental disabilities and co-occurring mental health needs would lose access to critical, individualized supports – including housing, employment services, therapy, case management, and crisis intervention.
• Medicaid-funded behavioral health and home and community-based services (HCBS) would be slashed, leading to increased institutionalization and preventable crises.
• DD Councils, which play a central role in research, policy innovation, advocacy, and systems change, would face defunding or elimination – at a time when inclusive and evidence-based practices are more essential than ever.
• The workforce crisis in disability and mental health services would intensify, with job losses, unsustainable workloads, and diminished service quality.
• Families and unpaid caregivers would be forced to carry impossible burdens, with little to no support from public systems.

The cuts to the ACL threaten to dismantle national infrastructure that fosters independence, inclusion, and self-determination for people with disabilities. Without the DD Councils and other ACL-supported programs, our field will lose vital resources for community engagement, advocacy, leadership development, and systemic reform.

This is not just a policy debate – it is a moral reckoning.

Medicaid is not a luxury. SNAP is not an option. ACL programs are not expendable. These are the mechanisms by which we affirm the dignity, rights, and humanity of people with disabilities. To weaken or eliminate them is to regress—to erase decades of advocacy, legal progress, and hard-won equity.

We call on the U.S. Senate to:

• Reject cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and the Administration for Community Living.
• Protect the funding and integrity of State Councils on Developmental Disabilities and related programs.
• Preserve the right of all people with disabilities to live in their communities with autonomy, support, and dignity.

To every member of Congress: this is your opportunity to stand on the side of justice.

Will you protect the infrastructure that allows people with disabilities to thrive, or allow it to collapse under the weight of political expedience?

NADD and our partners will not stand by silently. The disability community is united, informed, and vigilant. We will continue to fight for the individuals, families, and professionals who make up the heart of this nation’s disability services system.

In unity and unwavering commitment,

NADD and the NADD Board of Directors