Stephanie Akpa, Equal Justice Works Fellow

This morning’s Washington Post features an insightful piece on improper terminations of participants in the District’s Elderly and Physically Disabled Waiver Program, commonly called the EPD Waiver Program.

The EPD Waiver Program provides home health care services to some of the District’s most vulnerable residents—seniors and individuals with physical disabilities who, without the services provided in the EPD Waiver Program, would be required to live in a nursing home or rely on family members to provide them with services or pay out of pocket for assistance. The program’s mission is to give people the home health services that they need to remain in their communities. In the last few years, that mission has been undermined as hundreds of EPD Waiver Program recipients have been terminated from the program by no fault of their own, but because their home health agency failed to submit the required paperwork to ensure that individuals continue to receive services.

Legal Aid is one of a handful of legal services organizations in the District that has represented and continues to represent and advocate on behalf of individuals who have been unfairly terminated from the EPD Waiver Program. Today’s article sheds light on this important issue and, with the advocacy of groups like Legal Aid, University Legal Services, and the Legal Counsel for the Elderly, will aid in reversing this alarming practice and help people get the support that they need to stay in their communities.