As we close out this month, I want to take a moment to recognize and celebrate the incredible progress we’ve made as an organization. Thanks to your leadership, the dedication of our teams, and the resilience of the people we serve, this has been a record-breaking month for Options For All one that reflects the impact of our collective efforts and the momentum we continue to build.
We’ve achieved our highest Department of Rehabilitation (DoR) revenue ever, alongside our highest single-month revenue in OFA history This growth is not just a number it’s a direct result of the trust we’ve built with partners and the quality of services we provide Even more exciting, our forecasted operating income for the year is at an all-time high, positioning us for continued stability and reinvestment in our mission and our most important asset, our people
Beyond the financial milestones, the employee experience at OFA has never been stronger Our latest employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) has exceeded 60, reflecting a workforce that is engaged, committed, and aligned with our mission. At the same time, we saw the lowest monthly attrition rate in years (<1%) a direct result of our ongoing investments in culture, leadership, and engagement.
On the programmatic side, we continue to expand our reach and impact. This month, we served the highest number of employment clients ever, empowering more individuals with disabilities to secure meaningful jobs and build independent futures. Hiring for Impact, our initiative to attract and retain top talent, is gaining traction and ensuring that we have the right people in place to sustain this momentum.
Finally, I want to acknowledge the incredible show of support against Medicaid cuts from you, our staff, our clients, and our broader community. Your advocacy efforts are making a real difference, and I’m proud of how we continue to stand up for the people who rely on us
These achievements don’t happen by chance They happen because of your support, your commitment to our mission, and the belief that we can build an organization where everyone belongs and thrives Let’s take a moment to celebrate this milestone, knowing that we are only just getting started
PILLAR UPDATES
Celebrating Our Journey to Being the Best Place to Work
We are proud to recognize the incredible progress we've made in our ongoing commitment to becoming the Best Place to Work. This February, we achieved our lowest employee turnover rate to date — a remarkable milestone that reflects our dedication to fostering a positive, supportive, and engaging workplace culture.
This achievement is a testament to the hard work of our teams, the strength of our values, and the meaningful connections we continue to build. We are thrilled to celebrate this success and remain committed to creating an environment where our employees feel valued, empowered, and inspired every day.
Deliver Exceptional Services Employment Services
Employment Services
Events Attended
Program Highlights
Empowering Our Community Through Collaboration
We are excited to highlight the incredible partnership between our Referrals, Film & Media, and SA&E teams. By working together, these teams have made meaningful strides in engaging the community and reaching new, underrepresented clients.
This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to creating opportunities, amplifying diverse voices, and ensuring everyone has access to the resources and support they deserve. We are grateful for their dedication and the positive impact they continue to make!
Program Highlights
Lights, Camera, Achievement!
We are incredibly proud to celebrate the remarkable achievements of our recent Film & Media program graduates. This talented group of individuals successfully completed the program this past February, demonstrating impressive growth, creativity, and dedication throughout their journey.
It was an honor to witness their hard work pay off as they developed new skills, brought powerful stories to life, and achieved meaningful milestones. As we applaud their accomplishments, we are also excited to roll out the red carpet for our newest participants who are just beginning their journey.
The future is bright for these aspiring filmmakers and media creators, and we can’t wait to see the impact they’ll make as they continue to hone their craft and share their stories with the world.
Celebrating Literary Success
We are proud to share that Derek Shelton and his client recently attended the International Impact Book Awards, where his client was recognized as the author of a remarkable book. This achievement is a testament to their hard work, dedication, and
powerful storytelling.
We celebrate this incredible milestone and the impact their words are sure to have on readers everywhere.
DSP, Derek Shelton
and his client
(left),
(right) at the International Impact Book Awards.
Honored to Represent Options For All
I am proud to have been part of an incredible group representing Options For All at the Inland Empire Legislative Breakfast. This important event provided a valuable opportunity to connect with local leaders, advocate for our mission, and highlight the meaningful work we do to support individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
We are grateful to our dedicated team for their commitment to driving positive change and ensuring our community’s voice is heard.
February Financials
Have Thriving Business Model
YTD we are outperforming our budgeted Net OI by $2.9M. Our budget was based on a conservative approach that did not take into account rate increases since the date of implementation was not determined until after the start of the FY. Additionally, revenue outperformed budget because of the following:
• Remote Services and Day Rate billing for Community Engagement (CE) continuing this FY (they were at risk of being discontinued by DDS)
• Continued high attendance rates in our CE program
• Continued growth in our Employment Services program
• Improved Film and Media capacity and attendance rates
• Program improvements in ILS/TDS
FEBRUARY FINANCIALS:
• Revenue: $2,965,612
• Expenses: $2,193,268
• Net Operating Income (operating profit): $772K vs. Budget of $(17)K
YEAR TO DATE FINANCIALS:
• Revenue: $20,648,723
• Expenses: $17,381,315
• Net Operating Income (operating profit): $3,267,407 vs. Budget of $406K
INDUSTRY UPDATES AT THE STATE AND FEDERAL LEVEL
State Updates
• Provider Directory update
• Rate reform implementation
• Master Plan for Developmental Services
Federal Updates
• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confirmed as HHS Secretary
• Potential Medicaid cuts
• Current status:
• House proposes budget resolution requiring at least $880 B in Energy and Commerce Committee cuts
• Senate proposes budget resolution requiring at least $1 B in Energy and Commerce Committee cuts
• Both chambers moving their resolutions forward for markup, preparing for reconciliation
• Member advocacy opportunity: Congressional outreach
• Targeting all Republican Congressional districts
• Special focus on Congressman Vince Fong (CD-20), Congressman David Valadao (CD-22), and Congresswoman Young Kim (CD-40)
• Some advocacy resources below more coming soon, but don't hesitate to contact Abigail Henderson if you want to take action in your district now!
MEDICAID UPDATES
What Medicaid Cuts Mean for People With Disabilities
Kids With Disabilities
• Loss of Essential Care: Medicaid covers almost 50% of all U.S. children with disabilities, providing critical medical services like therapies and specialized care. Cuts would strip access to these services, hindering their development and wellbeing.
• Disrupted Early Intervention: Medicaid funds early intervention programs that help kids with disabilities reach key developmental milestones. Cuts could delay or deny these programs, leaving children behind and struggling to catch up.
• Financial Strain on Families: Without Medicaid, families would face higher outof-pocket costs for necessary treatments, creating a severe financial burden.
• Increased Risk of Institutionalization: Medicaid supports home and communitybased services, allowing children to live with their families. Cuts could force more children into institutions, stripping away the care and support they need to thrive at home.
Adults With Disabilities
• Worsened Health Outcomes: With 6 million adults with disabilities relying on Medicaid, cuts would reduce access to vital services physical therapy, medications, and medical equipment leading to worsening health conditions.
• Increased Financial Strain: Medicaid provides affordable care for many adults with disabilities. Cuts would force individuals to pay out-of-pocket, creating financial hardship and risking untreated or delayed medical care.
• Threat to Independence: Medicaid funds essential long-term services, like inhome care and assisted living. Cuts would limit access to these services, increasing the risk of institutionalization and undermining independence.
Workers With Disabilities
• Loss of Job Training and Support: Medicaid funds vital programs that help workers with disabilities access job training, transportation, and social services. Cuts could limit opportunities for employment and independence.
• Increased Job Instability: Many workers rely on Medicaid for critical support, such as transportation, personal care, and medical devices. Reductions could jeopardize their ability to maintain or advance in employment.
• Disincentive to Work: Medicaid cuts could create a "benefits cliff," where workers risk losing coverage as their income rises, discouraging career growth and fulltime employment due to the loss of essential health care.
People Who Are Medically Complex
• Reduced Access to Life-Saving Care: Cuts would limit funding for critical services like specialized treatments, therapies, and home health care, leading to delays or loss of essential support for those with complex conditions.
• Higher Out-of-Pocket Costs: With fewer resources, people may face skyrocketing costs for medications, equipment, and specialist visits, making essential care unaffordable.
• Limited Long-Term Care Access: Cuts would further limit already scarce longterm care options, including nursing homes, personal aides, and respite care vital services for those with severe disabilities or chronic illnesses.
• Greater Burden on Family Caregivers: Without Medicaid, families will bear more financial and emotional strain, lacking the support they need to care for their loved ones. Families often already don’t have the support they need this would worsen this crisis.
• Worsened Health and Higher Risk of Death: Reduced coverage would disrupt routine care and preventative services, leading to more hospitalizations, ER visits, and untreated health complications, ultimately increasing the risk of death.
Key Medicaid Talking Points
What’s Medicaid?
Medicaid is one of the biggest health care programs in the country. It helps millions of people in the U.S. get health care. This includes people with disabilities, seniors, lowincome adults, pregnant women, and children. It also helps millions of people with disabilities access long-term supports and services so they can live at home in their community. Medicaid often has different names in different states. You can find yours here.
Medicaid is a federal program that has nationwide requirements. Congress sets baseline rules around eligibility and financing that states must follow. Each state can add to what Congress does as it administers and runs its programs.
Both the federal government and state government pay for Medicaid services. Each state is entitled to federal funds to pay for Medicaid based on its federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP), which can vary from 50% in the wealthiest states to 75% in poorer states. As a federally protected entitlement, the federal government must pay its part of the services for eligible people if the state follows all federal laws and regulations.
States pay their part of Medicaid services in many ways. They may pay through general revenue, taxes, or county payments. The federal government can make changes about what is acceptable for states to use to match the federal money.
How does Medicaid help people with disabilities?
Medicaid helps people with disabilities throughout their lifetime to get the care they need to protect their health and well-being and live with dignity. It is extremely important to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities because Medicaid:
• Covers essential health services needed by nearly one half of all children with disabilities or other special health care needs.
• Is the largest payor of essential developmental services for infants and toddlers, enabling them to enter school ready to learn.
• Finances school-based health and mental health services for students with disabilities.
• Often covers things that private insurance does not adequately cover, such as complex wheelchairs, prosthetics, affordable prescription drugs, and technologies that help people communicate and live in the community.
• Helps people with disabilities work by providing a means to continue to receive health care, personal assistance services, and other Medicaid provided supports while working.
• Is the largest federal payor of long-term services and supports (LTSS) needed by more than 10 million children and adults with disabilities. LTSS means assistance with essential tasks, such as feeding, dressing, bathing, and walking. It can also include activities like managing finances, shopping, meal preparation, and housecleaning.
• For many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), Medicaid is their only source of funding for LTSS to enable them to live in the community.
Why is Medicaid at risk in 2025?
In 2025, Congress and the incoming Administration are expected to debate the size and scope of the federal government. This will include a review of the Medicaid program. The stakes for people with disabilities are very high.
Some cuts that could be considered are:
• Work requirements, which would add more steps to eligibility and would make people prove they cannot work due to illness or disability. The goal for adding this would be to reduce the number of people who could take part in the program. It also makes it harder for people to complete paperwork to stay in the program.
• Limits on provider taxes or ways that states can meet their match of the federal money, with an aim at lowering federal money in the program.
• Block grants or per capita cups, which often underestimate population growth or need.
• Eliminating Medicaid expansion, a policy that allows states to expand Medicaid coverage to a larger portion of their low-income populations.
• Changes to the federal funding formula to provide less funding to states.
• Check here for other options being considered.
To make up for federal cuts, states would face tough choices. They would need to either raise taxes, shift funding from other parts of the state budget, or change the Medicaid program in their state by removing services provided, adding waitlists, lowering reimbursements for providers or assessing needs with lower service hours.
Options For All knows the Medicaid program already is underfunded to the detriment of hundreds of thousands of children and adults with disabilities. Over 710,000 people have been on waiting lists to receive the services they need, in many cases, for a decade or more. Many live segregated in the institutions that still exist in 33 states. Direct support professionals (DSPs), the workers who help people with disabilities participate in their communities, are also in crisis. Lack of adequate Medicaid funding has meant low wages for their skilled labor, often less than what people can earn in fast food or retail jobs. DSP turnover rates are as high as about 40%.
What does all this mean?
Instead of discussing how we can make Medicaid stronger, by investing in the workforce and expanding access to services, there are a growing number of proposals that would cut Medicaid.
The stakes are so high for millions of people with disabilities and their families. We believe that everyone deserves to live in their communities, among their family and friends, with the services they need to thrive. The ONLY way we can make that possible is if we lift our voices and work together.
In Other News…
February's Operational Results
• We brought on 21 new clients
• Client Retention Rate remained strong at 95%
• Film & Media at 100% capacity and a 91% attendance rate
• CE Attendance Rates remained strong at 96%
• % of Clients Served remained strong at 100%
On The Horizon…
Upcoming OFA Family & Community Townhalls – Medicare Call to Action:
*Please let us know if you’re available to attend one.
Monday, March 17, 2025 – 9:30am – 10:30am Alga Norte Park (6565 Alicante Rd, Carlsbad, CA 92009)
Tuesday, March 18, 2025 – 9:30am – 10:30am Mira Mesa Community Park (8575 New Salem St, San Diego, CA 92126
Friday, March 21, 2025 – 11:30am – 1:00pm Malcom X Library (5148 Market St, San Diego, CA 92114)
Thursday, March 27, 2025 – 11:00am – 1:15pm Lakeside Library (12428 Woodside Ave, Lakeside, CA 92040)
Upcoming Committee Meetings:
Deliver Exceptional Services
Tuesday, April 1, 2025 10:00am – 11:00am
Best Place to Work
Thursday, April 10, 2025 3:00pm – 4:00pm
Have a Thriving Business Model
Wednesday, April 16, 2025 11:00am – 12:30pm
Governance & Compensation
Thursday, April 17, 2025 11:00am – 12:00pm
Upcoming Board Meeting:
Wednesday, April 23, 2025 9:30am – 4:00pm
Spaces – San Diego – Little Italy 1420 Kettner Blvd, Ste. #323 San Diego, CA 92101
Followed w/ a Social at Top Sail 4:00pm – 6:00pm 1360 N Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92101
