Dozens of nonprofit leaders, program workers, people in recovery and family members told the Appropriations Health Subcommittee at a long public hearing that chronic under‑funding has pushed human‑services providers to the brink.

Speakers from agencies that contract with the Department of Developmental Services (DDS) and the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) described high vacancy rates, frequent mandated double and triple shifts, canceled day programs and waiting lists for clients who need 24‑hour care or intensive day services.

The hearing, which included hundreds of public comments, framed the budget debate around a single practical problem: nonprofit contractors cannot recruit or keep trained direct‑care staff when entry pay and overall funding fall well behind inflation and local market wages.

"A direct care staff person at Oak Hill has a starting wage of $17.25 an hour based on current state funding levels, yet that very same individual, when starting off the same career at a state direct care position, will begin at $26 an hour and can count on a cost of living increase in the years ahead," Oak Hill board member Lorna Sedor told the committee.

Why it matters

Providers said the budget decisions will determine whether homes and day programs stay open and whether vulnerable residents keep stable, predictable supports. Several witnesses recounted people who had been forced to stop attending day programs or whose family caregivers faced impossible choices because residential staff were unavailable.

"This is not charity," said one program director. "We're contracted by the state to deliver services. The state sets the rates. If the rates don't cover the real costs of providing care, services will close and people will go without."

Requests and examples

Nonprofit coalitions and individual agencies asked the committee to increase funding for community nonprofits by $264,000,000 in FY 2026, annualize ARPA bridge funding the legislature provided earlier, and adopt multi‑year cost‑of‑living indexing for human‑services contracts. Several witnesses cited concrete impacts:

- Oak Hill and other large providers reported vacancy rates in some programs above 25%–40%, forced program consolidations and closed day programs.
- A school‑to‑adult transition program manager said families are waiting months or years for supports that never materialize because agencies lack staff.
- Workers described routinely being mandated for 24‑hour shifts, driving exhaustion and safety risks.

Voices from the hearing

People with lived experience and family members linked the funding question to public safety and long‑term costs. "If programs close, the cost will show up elsewhere — emergency rooms, law enforcement, hospitals," said one recovery services leader. Joseph J. Cynthia, a Waterbury resident who testified as a client of public mental health services, urged a large increase in nonprofit funding: "Hopefully $300,000,000 more for nonprofit agencies over the next two years," he said.

Recovery and addiction services

Speakers who operate or volunteer at recovery community centers described the risk of closing multiple CCAR sites without stable DMHAS funding. Managers said last‑minute emergency funding had prevented immediate closures but warned that patchwork funding leaves programs vulnerable to collapse months from now.

School‑based health centers and prevention

Representatives from Child & Family Agency and the Connecticut Association of School‑Based Health Centers said federal one‑time ARPA grants created nine new school‑based health centers in eastern Connecticut; those sites will lose services when the one‑time funds expire unless the legislature provides ongoing state support. Prevention groups — including the Governor's Prevention Partnership and local youth advocates — urged the committee to preserve and expand prevention financing, saying investments reduce long‑term costs and save lives.

Committee context and next steps

Witnesses repeatedly urged the committee to revise the state's fiscal guardrails that limit spending flexibility; they argued the constraints prevent timely, predictable funding for human services. Nonprofit leaders said a sustained, predictable increase would allow agencies to pay competitive wages, stabilize staffing, expand programs and reduce expensive downstream costs such as hospitalizations and emergency responses.

A number of providers also asked the state to annualize the ARPA funds already allocated last year. Several agency CEOs said the one‑time infusions helped stabilize operations in the short term but stressed that short‑term support cannot substitute for annualized contract funding.

What the hearing did not include

No formal votes or committee decisions were recorded during the public testimony portion. The committee took comments only; legislators did not make policy changes on the spot. Multiple public witnesses asked the committee to prioritize sustained funding for nonprofits in the budget negotiations that follow.

Ending

The testimony amounted to a unified plea from people who care for some of Connecticut's most vulnerable residents: better pay, predictable contracts and annualized funding would improve staff retention, expand services and — by preventing crisis care — save public money. The Appropriations Committee will consider those requests as it prepares its recommended budget.